There is a great deal of discussion about the “next” American economy – which is being called the “Creative Economy” by many pundits.  The idea is that tasks which are concrete-sequential, able to be thoroughly defined, and are usually linear in nature are the jobs that will be exported to India or China .  These are often business related jobs – accounting, paralegals, computer programming, etc.

The jobs that will define the next American economy will be those that demand innovation, creativity, and imagination, coupled with an ability to work as a part of a collaborative team. 

You can read about these issues in Daniel Pink’s book – The Creative Mind, or the updates to Friedman’s The World is Flat. 

These are powerful arguments for not only protecting the arts in the school day, but in making certain that all students have opportunities to explore their creative and imaginative minds.  It is reasonable to assert that students without opportunities to have an arts education are being relegated to parts of the work force that will be less fulfilling and lower paying. 

Equity – providing equal education for all students no matter their socio-economic status – is also a powerful argument and one that should also be advanced. 

Legislative Home