Many Oklahomans are aware that Oklahoma has recently come under a huge budget crisis. Much of Oklahoma's problem has come from a fall in oil prices, but our economy isn't actually the issue at hand. It is our schools. With recent budget cuts, much of public education's funds have been slashed along with many extracurricular activities.
Naturally, the first thing to go is the fine arts, school musicals, plays, art class, band and orchestra. However, this is a huge problem. Fine arts are extremely important for many kids who do these activities, many of which want to peruse a career in them. While I disagree in or governments decision to cut the funding from public education as a whole, I also disagree from stripping down the fine arts first. Many high school kids have had their lives changed by acting classes or arts, me included. If my school had decided to cut competitive acting programs, I would never have met the amazing teacher, Mr.Ryan, who has shaped such an important part of who I am today.
The question we should be asking ourselves isn't why we have to cut fine arts, but why do we decide to cut them first? The reason is simple, many people see the fine arts as inferior to sports. Sports like football, basketball and soccer can draw a large crowd of students to cheer at a game. Events such as speech and debate tournaments and art galleries don't do this, and when a musical happens, the student shows are in the midst of school and are only used to skip class. The less obvious support of art has allowed sports to be seen as more important when they should be treated as equal options. I may not personally enjoy sports, but I admire the people who play them, and I recognize the talents they have to be able to do such rigorous work.
While I would prefer that Oklahoma would not have had to cut school funding, much less have a budget crisis at all, we have to deal with it. I am lucky to come from Norman, which so graciously supports the fine arts, many children in Oklahoma aren't and won't have the same opportunities I have had do to budget cuts on the fine arts.
