1.) A fundamental purpose of education is to transmit the cultural heritage of a group to succeeding generations - Music is the most powerful, compelling, and glorious manifestation of every cultural heritage. Any student who is allowed to leave school without studying music has been cheated just as if he or she had not studied math or science.

2.) A fundamental purpose of education is to help students to achieve their potential - Musical potential exists in every person. Anyone whose musical potential is undeveloped is deprived - deprived of some of the most satisfying and rewarding experiences that life has to offer. Students must be able to test their limits of potential in as many different realms as possible - the more such opportunities are available, the more likely it is that students’ lives will be rich and full.

3.) A fundamental purpose of education is to educate students beyond the superficiality and banality of popular culture and attitudes – Just beneath the layers of trivial music and culture lies a wondrous and incredibly diverse realm of profundity where, once the barriers of unfamiliarity and bias have been stripped away, exquisite beauty and enjoyment are readily accessible to all.

4.) A fundamental purpose of education is to prepare students for life - Schools implicitly teach that every question has a right answer. But, important problems facing the workplace and society seldom have clear-cut, formulaic answers. Music is different from other basic disciplines - it is not preoccupied with right answers, but tolerates and accommodates the ambiguities which reflect life - music is more like life itself than other disciplines. Music teaches us to cope with the subjective - it brings curricular balance to each child.

5.) A fundamental purpose of education is to help each child succeed - Every student needs to succeed in something. Music provides opportunities for success for some students who may have difficulties in other disciplines. For some students, music is the only thing which makes school tolerable. I have known students who have remained in school only because of the joy and satisfaction they have experienced in music - the only place where their efforts were valued, their talent appreciated, and their contributions respected.

6.) A fundamental purpose of education is to inspire and motivate children to be life-long learners - Music exalts the human spirit. Music transforms the human experience. Music is one of the most basic of human instincts. Music has played a center role in every human civilization. We should not limit access to music education to the privileged few - we must continue to make music education available to everyone to experience and enjoy.

"I believe that music and the [other] arts should be considered a core-core subject. There's absolutely no conflict between the expansion of our music programs and focus on other academic programs. The bottom line is we want to close the achievement gap. And closing the achievement gap is going to involve the well-rounded education of all young people. And math and science are going to be improved relative to how strong we have opportunities to be involved in the arts."
Rod Paige, U.S.
Secretary of Education

“The limits of our cognitive life are not defined by the limits of our language. As Polanyi points out, ‘We know more that we can tell.’. As long as the non linguistic expression of human intelligence is marginalized in school programs, our programs will fail to develop the rich varieties of human potential that our students possess.”
Elliot Eisner, Stanford University (Phi Delta Kappan 5/03)

“The function of art in society is what distinguishes man from beast; without art we are identical to the beasts trying to survive out there.
Everything we have going for us is art, and the function of art is vital to our health....Without music we are dead.”
Catherine Sell, University of Illinois