05/30/2012

Proud District Faces Arts Education Cuts

"Up­per Darby High School maintains a col­lec­tion of im­pres­sive­ly large trophies, showcasing decades of ex­cel­lence. This spring, to no one’s surprise, sev­er­al more were added, top prizes at a na­tion­al com­pe­ti­tion.

All this is not a boasting of ath­let­ic achieve­ment; Up­per Darby High’s trophies are found in the cho­rus room and rep­re­sent its out­stand­ing success in mu­sic.

Down the hall is the 1,650-seat Performing Arts Cen­ter, home to Summer Stage, a the­ater part­ner­ship with the town­ship whose foun­der, Har­ry Dietzler, won a pres­ti­gious Barry­more Award last fall. Among his proteges: Tina Fey, of 30 Rock and Sat­ur­day Night Live.

In many districts, mu­sic and art are regarded as large­ly the do­main of mid­dle- and up­per-class children, of­ten taught by pri­vate instructors. Not so in blue-col­lar Up­per Darby, which prides it­self on the scope of its offerings, its dedicated pub­lic school teachers, and an in­clu­sive ethos. Even in re­cent years, with more low-in­come students, more eth­nic di­ver­si­ty, and a shrinking lo­cal tax base, Up­per Darby has offered arts and the­ater pro­grams that sur­pass those in many more pros­per­ous districts.

Un­til now.

In a move akin to a dis­trict with cham­pi­on­ship ath­let­ic teams cutting sports, Up­per Darby administrators this spring announced a plan to eliminate all el­e­men­ta­ry school mu­sic and art classes. That and oth­er proposed cuts would save about $3 mil­lion, dis­trict officials say.

The dis­trict began its bud­get planning this year with a $13 mil­lion def­i­cit, Su­per­in­ten­dent Louis DeVlieger said in an in­ter­view, and 'I don’t know who is going to come ri­ding over the hill to save us.'

Administrators main­tain that the mid­dle and high school arts pro­grams re­main un­touched, so the tra­di­tion of ex­cel­lence will con­tin­ue.

But many view the el­e­men­ta­ry school teachers as an in­dis­pens­able link in the arts’ chain of suc­cess. For ex­am­ple, mu­sic instructors teach third graders the re­cord­er, help­ing them learn mu­si­cal no­ta­tion that becomes the foun­da­tion for later cho­ral and in­stru­men­tal par­tic­i­pa­tion."

The Philadelphia Inquirer 05/28/2012