Arts in Education

Thank you for printing May Ling Halim’s “Where’s the Glory in the Arts?” (Voices, July 11), and many more thanks to Halim for pointing out so effectively the skewed value system that is widespread in public education. Those of us who teach in the arts have long been alarmed when school administrators reduce or eliminate training in art, music, theater and dance--always in the name of budget balancing.

Recently publicized research shows that early instruction in the arts leads to improved performance in other fields of study; as a result, some administrators are realizing the true cost of their earlier actions and are beginning to revitalize their arts programs. In such a climate the articulate words of a student who has had to experience firsthand an unbalanced public education may encourage them to rectify their past actions.

Let us hope that every school administrator in the country reads Halim’s commentary.

THOMAS OWENS

Torrance