Claire Craig and Olivia Trusty

American Education 115

Equality of Funding: Fine Arts vs Athletics

An issue in schools throughout the nation is the differences in funding between Fine Arts

subjects, like theatre, art, orchestra, choir, band and dance teams, and athletics departments,

specifically football. There is the question of if schools give a sport more money because they

deem it “more important.” For example, this could be true in the state of Texas where football is

a popular sport and Friday night activity. Many schools put large sums of money into football

fields, stadiums, practice facilities, uniforms and medical facilities, while Fine Arts departments

are left in the dust with inadequate spacing for their growing programs and old materials. This is

the debate we will be analyzing. Despite Claire and Olivia both being involved in the fine arts,

we will step back and look at this issue with a non-biased opinion. We plan to analyze a variety

of sources including different perspectives on the importance of fine arts and sports and voices

from inside the schools with their opinions and experiences with the issue. Are fine arts

departments truly underfunded and sports teams over funded? Are school districts biased when

dividing up funds between departments? Is this inequality negatively affecting teachers and

students and their ability to learn and grow?

How does one determine the importance of fine arts and athletics? And more specifically

how does one determine which is more important for a student? There are pros to both activities,

but some people have strong opinions one way or another. Music teacher Melanie Britton from

Arizona took an unconventional route to bring attention to the arts. Britton entered and won

several beauty pageants. Britton believes the fine arts are important because they are what “keep
kids in school” and “gives them a place to belong” (Block, 2013). She also believes that students

need a creative outlet. Doing the same thing every day in class can become boring and

monotonous causing students can lose interest in their studies, but finding a passion in the arts,

whether it be playing a musical instrument, singing, acting or creating art, can give kids a place

where they can properly express themselves and make new friends with similar interests and

goals. Fine arts can also help teach life lessons that are not taught in the everyday classroom. For

example, Britton teaches marching band and sees her students learning about teamwork and

discipline (Block, 2013). But one may argue with Britton saying the same thing could be said

about sports and they would be right.

There have also been studies proving that music increases cognitive skills. Jennifer

Bugos and Jennifer Mazuc studied the effect of the Suzuki Strings program on verbal memory

performance, memory and visual processing on child musicians. This study hits close to home

for Olivia because she was once a Suzuki Strings student herself. The data collected in this study

supports their hypothesis that Suzuki instruction “leads to the development of semantic and

syntactical knowledge” which increases memory retrieval (Bugos, 2013). In simple terms, music

instruction improved memory in musical children.

Studies have shown involvement in music boosts student’s ability to perform

academically, but what about athletics. A study by Christopher Tomczyk, Megan Mormile,

Megan Wittenberg, Jody Langdon, and Tamerah Hunt tested over 650 high school students, both

male and female, athletes and nonathletes, investigating the effect of concussions on academic

performance. By having the students take a computerized neuropsychological test they

determined that while athletes showed to have faster reaction times, they have a higher risk of
obtaining a concussion, leading to cognitive differences in athletes and non-athletes (Tomczyk,

2018).

Others argue that athletics are important to students mentally and physically. Sarah

Donaldson and Kevin Ronan conducted a study about the effect of sports participation on the

emotional well-being of young adolescents. Their study found that “increased levels of sports

participation had a positive relationship with aspects of emotional and behavioral well-being,

particularly self-concept” (Donaldson, 2006). Others may argue that sports like football teach

kids about violence, but Donaldson and Ronan’s study showed fewer reports of emotional and

behavior problems from kids with “increased perceptions of sports-related competencies”

(Donaldson, 2006). Donaldson and Ronan also analyzed previously conducted studies which

found that students in sports were more likely to get better grades, less likely to drop out and less

likely to partake in drugs and cigarettes. All in all, there is a negative correlation between sports

and reduced delinquency (Donaldson, 2006). In addition to the benefits to the emotional and

behavioral well-being of athletes, it also benefits athletes physically by lowering risk of

cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and obesity.

Some people, like Francis X. Daly Jr., believe that academics and scholarship should be

the focus of schools, not sports. Daly calls school sports budget “a crime” (Scholarship, n.d.).

Daly does not see the logic in paying so much money for 60 kids to be on a team where only 11

play at a time. He also believes that America should emulate the children’s sports model of

Europe where teams are “founded and funded and prosper as entities totally separate from

scholastic organizations” (Scholastic, n.d.). This way money for sports teams would come from

alternate sources instead of taking money away from academics. Daly understands that sports are

important to have a healthy body which is important to have a healthy mind, but the “primary
goal of a true learning institution” should be scholastics which does not deserve to have its funds

drained by sports. This thought process can go for sports and the fine arts. While both can have a

positive impact on the development and growth of a student, but academics should come first to

help them grow mentally and of course give them a future with a successful, stable career.

There are many different points of view and reasoning behind which is better for students

and deserves more attention and funding, but what is actually happening in public schools?

Olivia interviewed Mark Chandler, the Fine Arts Director of the Hurst Euless Bedford

Independent School District. Mr. Chandler explained the many moving parts to his Visual and

Performing Arts budget which is developed yearly based on the needs of each department (art,

band, orchestra and theatre). His Capital Outlay is around $110,000. He explains that while this

may sound like a lot of money, when a tuba costs $10,000 or more, $110,000 goes fast. His

budget also includes money for instrument/equipment repair, supplies, transportation, and

contracted services. Mr. Chandler is aware of the inequality of distribution of funds in certain

districts but does not feel it is an issue in HEB ISD because his “VPA budget is healthy” (M.

Chandler, personal communication, October 1, 2018). He also does his best to give every

department their “priority 1 item off of their Wishlist.” Mr. Chandler does not believe HEB ISD

delegates funds based off “importance” because the district takes their saying “we educate the

whole child” very seriously, “[placing] high value on all aspects of the educational process

including all of the curricular and extracurricular programs” (M. Chandler, personal

communications, October 1, 2018). When asked how this problem could be fixed for other

districts Mr. Chandler believes it all depends in the “stakeholders to speak clearly and

passionately on behalf of the kids that are in these programs” (M. Chandler, personal

communications, October 1, 2018). If nobody is willing to fight the good fight, then no change is
going to occur. People must bring light to the issues at hand, like Melanie Britton has done for

her kids.

Luckily Mark Chandler was gracious enough to explain his budget system in a way that

the common person would understand and include financial figures. This ties into the fact that

HEB ISD is a public school district and by law must have this information to the public. But

some school districts “[struggle] to meet this requirement” (Burnette II, D., 2018). This lack of

transparency is even causing political friction between superintendents, civil rights advocates,

and parents. Ary Amerikane, the director of P-12 resource equity at the Education Trusty, says

“Giving parents and advocates those numbers will allow them to say, ‘Does this or doesn’t this

align with my sense of fairness” (Burnette II, D., 2018). This aligns with Mr. Chandler’s

statement about stakeholders needing to speak up for what is right. But how can they speak up if

they are unaware of the problem which is being hidden by the schools?

Olivia also interviewed Candace Harris, the theatre director of LD Bell High School of

HEB ISD, which falls under Mark Chandler’s jurisdiction. The LD Bell Theatre department is

provided with $6,000 of funding every year. This is used to cover the supplies for theatre classes,

the fall show, the One Act Play, the improv troupe (Wisecracks) which performs once a month

and senior directed plays in the spring. Harris claims that this is doable but says that the

department can end up spending up to $20,000 a year. If the department only gets $6,000 a year

but spends $15,000- $20,000 then where does this extra money come from? Well, the department

raises funds using ads in programs wherever they can, but $3,000-$4,000 comes straight from

Harris’ own pocket. Many teachers do this, despite their low pay, to provide kids with supplies

and a positive learning environment. Harris does her best with what she is given and is willing to

spend her money because theatre is her greatest passion. Harris’ biggest complaint is that she
needs more help, “I don’t need money, I just need help” (C. Harris, personal communications,

October 6, 2018). Harris sometimes struggles to get parent volunteers to help organize events

and build sets, but luckily this year, Harris found 3 dads, plus her husband, to spend an entire

Saturday building a set for the fall musical, Be More Chill. Teachers can only be provided with

so much money for the school year and it is amazing how many teachers are willing to spend

their own money to make sure their students have supplies and a positive learning environment.

At Bellaire High School, Michael McDonough estimated that they spend about $200,000

dollars on athletics and $150,000 on fine arts. The numbers given to us are rough estimates, but

McDonough emphasized that they did spend more on athletics than fine arts. He explained that

the reason for this was that “Sports can require more dollars because of the number of students

involved and the cost of specialty equipment… The arts tend to have consumables yet can reuse

instruments or costumes for multiple years- including having theatre build their own sets as a

learning piece for that art” (M. McDonough, personal communications, October 12, 2018). But

would this limit a theatre department's ability to perform a variety of plays and musicals when

only provided with a smaller budget and expected to reuse costumes and sets?

Some schools decide that neither athletics nor the fine arts are as important as academics

and choose to not offer those types of programs. Lori Lambropoulos, the principal of Energy

Institute High School in Houston, chooses to align her financial spending with her schools’

mission and vision. Lambropoulos explains the three core tenets to their mission to include

project-based learning, the use of updated technology, and “exposure of students to innovative

and cutting edge industry connectivity/partnership to assist with college and career readiness” (L.

Lambropoulos, personal communications, October 10, 2018). Money is spent on tablets, laptops
and programs, training and increased pay for teachers, and a corporate advisory board, all to

contribute to students’ success.

In the end, it can be determined that both fine arts and athletics are equally important to

students since everyone is going to have different hobbies and interests. Schools should not be

dividing funds based on which department they deem more important, because all the

departments are “most important” to somebody. Nonetheless, Claire and Olivia are left with

some questions. Are there some areas of the US that are worse about distribution of funds than

others? How does poverty levels impact distribution of funds? What is the best way for people

go get their voice heard about the issue? The inequity of funding between departments tends to

get swept under the rug by some districts, but when parents, teachers and students step up for

what they believe in, changes can be made. People need to demand that distribution of funds are

open to the public and that they are properly distributed so that each department has the money

to do what they love. No one deserves to be left in the dust for any reason.
Bibliography

Block, D. G. (2013, October). Music advocacy as a platform for pageant winner: Arizona Band
Teacher becomes Ms. MWI International 2013. Teaching Music, 21(2), 16. Retrieved from
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A348785585/AONE?
u=txshracd2486&sid=AONE&xid=33682193

Bugos, J. A., & Mazuc, J. (2013). Semantic clustering and processing speed in Suzuki violinists.
Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, (198), 7+. Retrieved from
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A458644312/AONE?
u=txshracd2486&sid=AONE&xid=99d4a89e

Burnette II, D. (2018). Making School-Level Spending Information Transparent and Easy to Use
Is No Easy Lift. Education Week, 37(25), 19–20. Retrieved from
http://webster.austincollege.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=a9h&AN=129092863&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Donaldson, S. J., & Ronan, K. R. (2006). The effects of sports participation on young adolescents'
emotional well-being. Adolescence, 41(162), 369+. Retrieved from
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A150966287/AONE?
u=txshracd2486&sid=AONE&xid=5469fc6f

Scholarship, not sports, should be schools’ focus. (n.d.). USA Today. Retrieved from
http://webster.austincollege.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=a9h&AN=J0E016953677504&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Tomczyk, C. P., Mormile, M., Wittenberg, M. S., Langdon, J. L., & Hunt, T. N. (2018). An
Examination of Adolescent Athletes and Nonathletes on Baseline Neuropsychological Test
Scores. Journal of Athletic Training, 53(4), 404+. Retrieved from
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A543991693/AONE?
u=txshracd2486&sid=AONE&xid=a7b725eb

Interviews:

Chandler, M. (October 1, 2018) Email interview.

Harris, C. (October 6, 2018) Email interview.

Lambropoulos, L. (October 10, 2018) Email interview.

McDonough, M. (October 12, 2018) Email Interview.