Saturday, April 9, 2016

Bring the Music Back!


I have a dream..... that the testing budget in New York City and New York State was reduced by 80 percent and the available funds were used to purchase musical instruments for every high school and middle school so that any student who tried out for and made the band or orchestra could be given a musical instrument to take home and practice with.
Impossible you say? We actually had this in New York City public schools from the late 40's through the middle 70's until the great music programs in our schools were SHUT DOWN when a banker led Emergency Financial Control Board dictated huge budget cuts in the Department of Education
So many great musicians and songwriters were products of these programs; Eddie and Charlie Palmieri, Ray Barretto, Bobby Sanabria, Carol King, Jimmy Owens, Willie Colon to name only a few.
It's time to BRING THE MUSIC BACK!

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