NAfME & Roundtable Endorse Rep. Velazquez’s Javits Act of 2017

The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) and the Music Education Policy Roundtable is pleased to announce our endorsement of Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez’s (D-NY-7) Javits Act of 2017.

If passed, H.R. 3710 would reauthorize the Javits Fellowship, a U.S. Department of Education program that can provide up to $30,000 in financial assistance for students pursuing masters or PhDs in social sciences, humanities, and the arts. The program was defunded in 2011.

In the program’s previous iteration, the U.S. Department of Education only marked performance, theory, composition, and literature, as eligible fields of study within music for the fellowship. To improve the fellowship, this bill contains reauthorization language (Section 3) that would require the U.S. Secretary of Education to list music education amongst eligible fields of study.

34 members of NAfME’s Music Education Policy Roundtable have also endorsed H.R. 3710, including:

American Choral Directors Association	Music for All
American Orff-Schulwerk Association	Music Teachers National Association
American School Band Directors Association	Music Publishers Association
American String Teachers Association	National Association for Music Education
Barbershop Harmony Society	National Association of Music Merchants
Chorus America	National Association of Music Parents
College Band Directors National Association	National Music Council
Conn-Selmer	Organization of American Kodály Educators
Drum Corps International	Percussive Arts Society
Education Through Music	Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
El Sistema USA	Progressive Music
Gordon Institute for Music Learning	Quadrant Arts Education Research
Guitar and Accessories Marketing Association	Quaver’s Marvelous World of Music
Jazz at Lincoln Center	Strathmore Hall Foundation
J. W. Pepper & Son	Winter Guard International
League of American Orchestras	WURRLYedu
Little Kids Rock	VH1 Save the Music Foundation

NAfME and the Roundtable applauds Congresswoman Velazquez for her continuing leadership in championing music and the arts. We are delighted to partner with the Congresswoman once again in working to ensure those who teach and engage in research on music education will receive the same benefits and opportunities as other well-rounded educators.

A full copy of the Javits Act of 2017 can be found here. The bill currently has 13 cosponsors.