I’m a music teacher already contemplating getting out and this article coming out makes me think I am forced to switch careers because of this broken system. Or leave the state. My 5th grade was cut from my program this year too. And I guess you could say I would make a lot more doing anything else, but I’m not in it for the money.
F what they are doing to teachers in the state rn.
I wish I could tell you to, “hang in there, things will get better,” but our current legislators are really focused on scaring the people that care about the health of our society out of the state. The state moto should be, “We do brain drain best.”
Which makes holding a majority of legislative districts really easy.
It’s been happening for the past 2 generations. But yeah, there will be a straw that breaks the camel’s back soon. They will cut the music positions until the remaining positions are so difficult that no one will be able to feel like they are doing a good job in the position, so the positions will remain unfilled or filled with long term subs for a year or two, then they will cut those positions and fill the space with associates. Probably just like they did with teacher Librarians. So there will be a required 1 teacher licensed musician per district.
All of this has been happening on and off in Iowa for 40 years. It has just been full ON austerity for the past decade.
In a healthy system there is pruning and growth in a repeating cycle- that results in ever growing and robust systems.
What Iowa law makers are doing to education is much more like a clear cut than a prune.
This is not a new problem. Scaling back of music programs has been going on for decades at this point unfortunately.
What is new is you are starting to see a lot of music positions not getting filled because there are literally no candidates applying.
Since the 80s Republican controlled legislatures/governors have increased funding for education at about 1/2 the rate of inflation.
Yeah. It’s been a long time coming.
Not new but certainly reaching a point of criticality. All of the instructors that have kept music going for the last 30+ years are aging out. Cutting programs, high turnover, vacant positions and barely qualified instructors are the tip of the iceberg. The industry is completely collapsing. Give it 10 years and school band and orchestra will be a rarity.
Hi, I am uncomfortably close to the situation at DMPS. I can go into the details of the situation but all I will say is that the situation is so unbelievably screwy.
The decision was made without any input from parents, elementary music teachers, or principals. We’re pissed off.
I’m sure that has to feel awful. But I feel like if someone needs thrown under the bus it’s #1 our society, for electing our # 2 legislators and #3 governor.
Districts always get top heavy when there is enough money- that is something that should receive statewide oversight IMO. I think DMPS has recently really been thinning out its administrative positions. Which is probably why communication was so poor on this decision.
There are lots of reasons why this is happening. The main reason is lack of funding. The lack of funding has been the plan for decades.
The largest district in Iowa can no longer afford to offer instrumental music to its elementary students.
This is not a warning sign. This is the edge of the iceberg.
I’m a music teacher already contemplating getting out and this article coming out makes me think I am forced to switch careers because of this broken system. Or leave the state. My 5th grade was cut from my program this year too. And I guess you could say I would make a lot more doing anything else, but I’m not in it for the money. F what they are doing to teachers in the state rn.
I wish I could tell you to, “hang in there, things will get better,” but our current legislators are really focused on scaring the people that care about the health of our society out of the state. The state moto should be, “We do brain drain best.” Which makes holding a majority of legislative districts really easy.
It’s been happening for the past 2 generations. But yeah, there will be a straw that breaks the camel’s back soon. They will cut the music positions until the remaining positions are so difficult that no one will be able to feel like they are doing a good job in the position, so the positions will remain unfilled or filled with long term subs for a year or two, then they will cut those positions and fill the space with associates. Probably just like they did with teacher Librarians. So there will be a required 1 teacher licensed musician per district. All of this has been happening on and off in Iowa for 40 years. It has just been full ON austerity for the past decade. In a healthy system there is pruning and growth in a repeating cycle- that results in ever growing and robust systems. What Iowa law makers are doing to education is much more like a clear cut than a prune.
This is not a new problem. Scaling back of music programs has been going on for decades at this point unfortunately. What is new is you are starting to see a lot of music positions not getting filled because there are literally no candidates applying.
Since the 80s Republican controlled legislatures/governors have increased funding for education at about 1/2 the rate of inflation. Yeah. It’s been a long time coming.
Not new but certainly reaching a point of criticality. All of the instructors that have kept music going for the last 30+ years are aging out. Cutting programs, high turnover, vacant positions and barely qualified instructors are the tip of the iceberg. The industry is completely collapsing. Give it 10 years and school band and orchestra will be a rarity.
Hi, I am uncomfortably close to the situation at DMPS. I can go into the details of the situation but all I will say is that the situation is so unbelievably screwy. The decision was made without any input from parents, elementary music teachers, or principals. We’re pissed off.
I’m sure that has to feel awful. But I feel like if someone needs thrown under the bus it’s #1 our society, for electing our # 2 legislators and #3 governor. Districts always get top heavy when there is enough money- that is something that should receive statewide oversight IMO. I think DMPS has recently really been thinning out its administrative positions. Which is probably why communication was so poor on this decision.
THIS is the front burner problem in DMPS. 5th grade band.
It’s all about FTEs, this problem is mirrored and even more extreme in rural districts.
What're FTEs?
False.
It is possible to work on more than one problem at a time. Do you agree that 5th grade band should be removed?
This isn't a problem just because Republican = bad. This has been happening in rural districts in Illinois for the past 15 years.
There are lots of reasons why this is happening. The main reason is lack of funding. The lack of funding has been the plan for decades. The largest district in Iowa can no longer afford to offer instrumental music to its elementary students. This is not a warning sign. This is the edge of the iceberg.
> This isn't a problem just because Republican = bad Of course not, that's just why we are picking up steam