NAfME Reacts to Trump’s First Budget Proposal

The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) is profoundly disappointed in the Trump Administration’s budget proposal for FY 2018, as it calls to eliminate several key education programs that play a substantial role in providing supplemental support for music education. 

The proposal calls for the elimination of the Every Student Succeeds Act’s (ESSA) Title IV, Part A, Student Support and Academic Enrichment (SSAE) grant, a program created through bipartisan support that is designed to provide supplemental funding to school districts for critical areas of need, such as providing a “well-rounded education,” which includes music.  Furthermore, SSAE has yet to even undergo its first year of implementation, and the administration calling for such an elimination under these circumstances is adverse and unprecedented.  In addition, the President’s budget calls for changes to the method Title I, Part A funds would be delivered, and massive cuts to Title II, Part A.  These funds have supported delivering music education to areas in need, as well as for professional development.  

The budget also recommends beginning the process of eliminating both the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).  Both agencies provide vital resources to enrich musical life in communities across the nation and play a role in supporting music education.

As the budgetary process continues, NAfME calls upon Congress to properly support music and arts education by funding the SSAE grants of Title IV at the full authorized level of $1.6 billion, and continue funding for both the NEA and NEH.  Otherwise, Congress and the Administration will fail to provide our nation’s students with a well-rounded course of study that they desperately need for academic and lifelong success.