“Luke Said … is the first-chair trombone in the wind ensemble and jazz band at David Douglas High School in Portland, Oregon,” writes Lillian Mongeau in Monday’s (12/16) Hechinger Report, a U.S. nonprofit that reports on education. “Luke’s family helps to cover the cost of private lessons and band fees…. Luke is also helped by his school district, which has made music a priority at all grade levels. That is remarkable because 73 percent of the district’s enrolled students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch…. San Antonio’s school board boosted its fine arts budget to $2.7 million for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 school years…. The investment has already paid off, said Daniel Loudenback, the Texas district’s fine arts executive director. ‘We used to have two or three [high school bands] make first division,’ said Loudenback, who plays the saxophone…. In 2019, six of seven had that honor…. Now that music is included in the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) … music educators said they hope that more schools nationally will offer music with the same depth and attention dedicated to subjects like English and math.”
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