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“During the Gulf War, the few opportunities I had for relaxation I always listened to music, and it brought me great peace of mind. I have shared my love of music with people throughout this world, while listening to the drums and special instruments of the Far East, Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Far North, and all of this started with the music appreciation course that I was taught in a third-grade elementary class in Princeton, New Jersey. What a tragedy it would be if we lived in a world where music was not taught to children.”
- General H. Norman Schwarzkopf — United States Army

College admissions officers continue to cite participation in music as an important factor in making admissions decisions. They claim that music participation demonstrates time management, creativity, expression, and open-mindedness.
- Carl Hartman, “Arts May Improve Students’ Grades,” The Associated Press, October, 1999.

Students with band and orchestra experience attend college at a rate twice the national average.
- Bands Across the USA.

This link from the National Association for Music Education is a good reference for solid evidence and research as a method to substantiate the importance of the arts in public education.  Use these resources to argue for public support of music education.

http://www.menc.org/resources/view/advocacy-and-public-policy-quick-resources

This link is from the Florida Music Educators Association.  It has information that makes it easier to contact your elected policy-makers.  The more we keep these people informed of what we care about, the better they will be able to make decisions in our best interests.  The FMEA also issues legislative alerts that let us communicate with our lawmakers in a timely fashion on bills that concern music education.

http://www.flmusiced.org/dnn/LegislativeInfo/tabid/79/Default.aspx

This link has a list of lawmakers in our area.

http://flmusiced.org/LegNew/Content/Results.aspx?Type=2&FBADist=4