OP-ED: Cuts to Arts Funding Could be Detrimental to Students' Success

From Laurie de Koch, Executive Director

 At Seattle JazzED, we know that access to music education has a life-long impact on the well-being of students whether or not they decide to pursue music as a career.  A child who has access to music education develops courage and resilience. A child who has access to music education experiences the joy and validation of working in community with others, learning the value of deep listening, as well as the power of creative idea sharing.

As we witness the current budgeting shortfalls threaten a cherished music program at Washington Middle School (WMS), I am reminded of why Seattle JazzED was founded back in 2010. We are here to break down the barriers that exist in our current system. We are here to support young people as they explore their own pathways, and we work to ensure that there are opportunities for students to make music that they feel proud of, in community, with one another.

As a public-school parent whose children experienced the unsurpassed opportunity of working with Robert Knatt at WMS and Clarence Acox at Garfield High School, I witnessed up close the deep impact that these experiences had on my children, an impact that continues into their adult lives almost two decades later.  I also experienced the roller coaster ride of public funding that regularly threatened these important programs and often left many Black and Brown students behind.

Seattle JazzED was born out of an effort to ensure that the life-transforming opportunity of music education would continue to exist, regardless of public funding budgets, and not only for a select few who went to a certain school or lived in a certain neighborhood, but for every student in the city. In our community, we can support our young people by elevating arts education both in and out of our schools. We can insist that quality music education can be an indicator of a quality education.

In a perfect world, music would be fully funded in every single school and Seattle JazzED would not need to exist.  But for now, we are here, committed to creating the access that every single student in Seattle deserves.

Laurie de Koch is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Seattle JazzED. With a master’s degree in arts management and 25 years of nonprofit management experience, she has a deep commitment to equity in arts education.

Seattle JazzED was founded in 2010 with one simple mission: to make sure every young person who comes through their doors gets an excellent music education. The goal? That every JazzED student experience the life-changing magic of teamwork, accountability, and confidence that comes from a dedicated education in jazz, a quintessentially Black-American art form.