National PTA Joins SupportMusic.com Initiative to Keep Music in Schools

National PTA Joins SupportMusic.com Initiative to Keep Music in Schools

Adds 6 Million Parents' Voices to Critical Fight

CHICAGO, Dec. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The National PTA has joined forces with the Music Education Coalition's SupportMusic.com initiative. The announcement was made by Joe Lamond, president and CEO of NAMM, the International Music Products Association. This groundbreaking affiliation adds the voices of 6 million parents to the growing chorus of individuals and associations who desire to strengthen music programs in schools across the country.

This addition of the country's largest volunteer parent organization highlights a valuable breakthrough for the SupportMusic.com campaign, which offers parents the most comprehensive resources and tools they need to keep music in schools. With the help of the National PTA and other national and regional music industry brands and organizations, the SupportMusic.com coalition continues to offer a united front for the music in schools advocacy mission and message.

SupportMusic.com was launched by the Music Education Coalition (an entity formed by NAMM and MENC, the National Association for Music Education) and is the source of information for the largest online effort ever in support of school music programs. The campaign has quickly become the leading catalyst for a galvanizing force of parents who are alarmed at the growing trend of narrowed music instruction. With its nearly 100 affiliates, SupportMusic.com is a crucial unifying link between music advocates and policymakers in all areas of federal, district and local government and school boards.

"Throughout NAMM's many years of working to strengthen school music programs, we've found parents and teachers to be some of the most effective advocates in local communities where critical decisions are made," said Joe Lamond. "By adding the National PTA to our growing list of supporters, we're sending a strong message to school boards across the country that every child deserves equal access to music education."

Visitors to SupportMusic.com can learn how to address the specific challenges faced by schools in their communities and access information needed to defend music programs, which should remain an important part of their children's education. The "Build Your Case" resource answers questions about the value of music in building intelligence and targets budget issues and other concerns, while the chat forum, "Sounding Board," highlights community issues as well as success stories.

"Music and art education in elementary, secondary, and continuing education curricula is key to the development of students and their learning," said National PTA President Anna Weselak. "All children deserve a quality arts education and National PTA is proud to join the music education coalition SupportMusic.com to improve access and opportunity in music and arts learning."

In efforts to keep music and the arts available to millions of students, the National PTA continues to be a forward-thinking organization. Their Reflections program for example is an annual arts program that allows more than 500,000 children to express themselves through musical composition, photography, visual arts, and literature. For schools that lack the proper funding, Reflections, which is offered at no cost to the district, is a welcome program.

Because of the hard work of NAMM and its many national and regional affiliates, the No Child Left Behind Act, includes the arts as a "core academic subject" alongside reading, writing and mathematics. However, thousands of schools across the country are reducing time spent on music and art education as they face increased pressure from standardized testing requirements in math and reading.

This is in stark contrast to public opinion as demonstrated through a recent Harris Poll revealing that 93 percent of Americans agree that the arts are vital to providing a well-rounded education for children.

The affiliation of the National PTA and other parent and education organizations to the SupportMusic.com campaign demonstrates a growing and unwavering commitment to ensure music education doesn't disappear from our classrooms.

ABOUT NATIONAL PTA

With nearly 6 million members, National PTA is the largest volunteer parent organization in the United States. Since its founding in 1897, National PTA has prided itself on being a powerful voice for children, a relevant resource for parents, and a strong advocate for public education. Membership in National PTA is open to anyone who is concerned with the education, health, and welfare of children and youth. For more information about National PTA, visit www.pta.org.

The California PTA and Indiana PTA are also members of the coalition's campaign aimed at keeping music in schools.

About SupportMusic

SupportMusic.com is a public service initiative led by NAMM and MENC (the National Association for Music Education) that intends to build support for music education in local communities around the United States. This advocacy effort unites more than 75 national and regional affiliates with parents and community leaders seeking to improve access and opportunity in music and arts learning. Primarily configured as an easy-to-use Web site, SupportMusic.com serves as an online community of concerned individuals and organizations. The Web site provides tools for grassroots advocacy, promotes messages about the importance of music and the arts as part of learning and disseminates research that substantiates the proven benefits of making music.

About NAMM

The International Music Products Association, commonly called NAMM in reference to the organization's popular NAMM trade shows, is the not-for-profit association that unifies, leads and strengthens the $16 billion global musical instruments and products industry. NAMM's activities and programs are designed to promote music making to people of all ages. NAMM is comprised of approximately 9,000 Member companies. For more information about NAMM, interested parties can visit www.namm.com or call 800-767-NAMM (6266).

Source: NAMM, The International Music Products Association

CONTACT: Jeanne O'Keefe, JOKeefe@lippingroup.com, or Sunny Helali, both
of Lippin Group-LA, +1-323-965-1990, for NAMM

Web site: http://www.pta.org/

Web site: http://www.supportmusic.com/

Web site: http://www.namm.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: For pictures and logo artwork, please e-mail JOKeefe@lippingroup.com.

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