“Pleas from students and teachers to restore funding for music in Philadelphia public schools almost eclipsed what might have been the All-City High School Orchestra’s last performance Monday,” writes Summer Ballentine in Tuesday’s (6/25) Philadelphia Inquirer. “Facing a $304 million budget shortfall for the fiscal year beginning Monday, the district cut athletics and significantly slashed art and music programs. About 3,900 employees are to be laid off Sunday, including more than 60 music teachers…. The All-City High School Orchestra has been around for more than 70 years. Monday’s concert featured members of the orchestra along with teachers from the itinerant program, alumni, and members of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Without the itinerant music program, instructors say, the All-City orchestra is doomed. ‘We are the only instrumental music instruction in over 90 percent of the schools,’ said Marjorie Keefe, who teaches strings at seven schools. ‘It’s a way for economically disadvantaged students to have this opportunity that they otherwise would not have.’ … School officials are asking for $60 million in funding from the city, $120 million from the state, and $133 million from labor concessions to counteract the ‘doomsday’ budget.”
Posted June 25, 2013
