Music Education advocacy starts at home.

During the past two years, I have enjoyed the challenges and opportunities of helping to re-ignite the Music Education Coalition that is headquartered on the Internet at www.SupportMusic.com. With the help of dedicated colleagues at NAMM, MTNA, MENC and many others, the Coalition has grown to include more than fifty national organizations. Several task forces are at work in the Coalition--a working group that includes MTNA President Gary Ingle, meets regularly with senior officials at the U.S. Department of Education; another group is working on collecting first-person testimonials that can be used for advocacy efforts and media relations; and representatives from Coalition organizations meet monthly via an hour-long conference call that is turning out to be a dynamic advocacy think tank.

As we have done this work of building a national-level coalition, one goal has never left our minds: that when a national association signs on to be a part of the Coalition, it makes a commitment to spread the word about SupportMusic.com to its affiliate members and constituents because, more than ever, the most effective advocacy for music and arts education needs to take place in individual communities. The affiliate network of the Coalition will be effective if we can show, through our surveying and information gathering, that local communities are actively engaged in supporting and saving school music programs.

To date, we have some evidence of this, though more thorough surveying and assessing lie ahead. Many individuals, representing band, orchestra and choir booster clubs, local PTAs, community music schools and music service enterprises, have joined the national effort. They are seeking to expand awareness about the benefits of music education and are exploring ways to nurture, sustain or save music programs.

MTNA members are uniquely positioned to be driving forces in helping their local communities sustain and increase access to music education. First, as music teachers in the community, members are connected and interconnected to their community's fabric of services and what they offer in terms of quality of life and educational opportunities. Don't under-estimate your voice of influence. If issues arise that threaten to limit students' opportunities for music education in school, a short conversation with every parent who drops off or picks up a student from lessons could inspire community-based action to keep these programs alive. And, honestly, this is what it takes: concerned, active, persistent people working for music education access in their own communities. As an active music teacher in your community, you are vital to the success of advocating for music programs in schools.

Keeping the communication lines open by, for example, initiating conversations about a particular issue--by encouraging parents to meet with school board representatives and urging them to utilize the resources at SupportMusic.com--could lead to some precise action. The information and interest conveyed could be the catalyst for "getting something started."

The National Coalition for Music Education, with www.SupportMusic.com, is a network to inspire local advocacy and offers a toolkit of advocacy information and resources. MTNA members, and other concerned local citizens for music education, are the vital forces that will assure music programs are kept alive and thriving in schools--working together for as long as it takes.

BONUS BYTE

For more information about music advocacy, visit www.SupportMusic.com.

Mary Luehrsen worked as a professional flutist for twenty years as an orchestra/and chamber music performer. She is a certified music educator and taught elementary genera/music, band and secondary instrumental music. Luehrsen has been the director of public affairs and governmental relations for NAMM--The International Music Products Association since 2001.