Often times when I am approached by children when I'm leaving a grocery store I try to avoid them. As cruel as this sounds most of the times they are asking me to purchase chocolate bars or girl scout cookies, and having spent too much money in the grocery store, I feel no need to spend more. Yet a few days ago after leaving Von's I was approached by two young girls, I'm assuming 11 or 12, who attended a middle school in Thousand Oaks. This being my home I only knew a few schools around and this was one of the middle schools I knew. They were basically asking for money to help fund their Physical Education and Performance and Visual Arts programs. I was appalled at the fact that they needed money, I mean I had only been out of the public school system for a couple years and I'm barely realizing now they are trying to get rid of these programs?

I asked the two young girls what they were involved in through the arts, one the girls stated she was in choir and the other proudly professed that she played the violin. These two girls completely convinced me to donate money, they were more grateful than they should've been for only receiving $10, although I'm sure they realized I am a broke college student so this means a lot coming from me.

Yet this wasn't the only occurrence I had heard about schools loosing funding. The mother of the young boy I tutor for expressed today to me that in the beginning of their school year the parents are asked to donate $400-$500, and throughout the year there are still continuous fundraisers throughout the year trying to raise more money for Physical Education and the Arts programs.

It seems now that public schools are no longer free. Of course many parents have no problem paying this fee because they want their child to experience the arts and sports as a youth. I just feel it's a tad unfair that the state government doesn't feel that our tax dollars should go towards these two subjects. I believe that a school's main focus should not be focused on the curriculum of reading, writing, math and science. Children deserve to have the freedom to run around and kick a soccer ball, or pick up a paintbrush and create a masterpiece. As a student who grew up in that environment and strives to become a teacher who teaches in a creative environment, I don't see a true reason, besides financially, to take away these two very important subjects. Although I am unfamiliar with the structure of common core, I have the idea that it is meant to have students think outside of the box, and more creatively than just 2+2=4, it's more of, asking the "Why" questions. So is common core America's way of replacing the truly creative ways of thinking, through active participation and the arts? If this is true, I want no part in it, it isn't fair that many schools aren't getting funding for these important subject. They shouldn't be just listed as an extracurricular, they should be a core requirement in the education system. If this injustice throughout the school system continues through colleges and high schools, I promise there will be more action taken from me than just a post on Odyssey.