Budget cuts and insufficient funds have become common reasons why schools across the country have begun to cut crucial programs out of a student’s education. Along with the increasing emphasis on rigid standardized tests as the uncontested means to evaluate performance, it seems that schools are beginning to lose the innovative, creative nature of learning.

Well here is an idea to promote educational productivity: School boards should invest in an area of study that has been proven to enhance the learning process, stimulate the brain, , substantially assist lower-socioeconomic students and, yes, increase standardized test scores. This area is music.

Unfortunately, school administrators nationwide have not widely adopted this suggestion. In recent years, cuts toward public education in the budgets of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett have reduced state funding by more than $1 billion. With such drastic reductions come difficult decisions that will inevitably hurt certain areas. Music, however, should not be one of these areas.