Senate Bill 718
Friday, January 22nd at the Michigan Music Conference, State of Michigan Senator Curtis Hertel submitted SB718 to the Michigan Senate. This bill requires equal access to music education in EVERY public elementary school in the state of Michigan. The bill is currently headed to committee for a reading. Contact your legislators and urge them to support SB718 guaranteeing music education for every child in Michigan's public schools. A copy of the bill can be found here.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Partnership for Music Education Policy Development (PMEPD) is to unite all Michigan music educators, and music education organizations and associations, as a policy think tank to promote a quality music education for every student in the state of Michigan. The PMEPD carefully monitors the actions of all state decision-making bodies on issues affecting music instruction in Michigan, and presents consensus state legislative policy recommendations.
A new organization dedicated to representing the interests of all music educators in Michigan is announcing its formation. The Partnership for Music Education Policy Development: A Michigan Think Tank (PMEPD) is committed to addressing the pressing issues in our profession today.
history
Beginning at an informal exchange of ideas at the 2012 Michigan Music Conference, PMEPD held its first formal meeting in April, 2012 on the University of Michigan campus. The group seeks to fill a void that has long existed in Michigan music education. Unlike most other states, which have umbrella groups that represent music educators, Michigan has long had multiple independent professional associations that represent various factions and are limited in scope. Only occasionally has any professional organization emerged in the state to recommend policy for school music. In 1924, the Michigan Department of Public Instruction opened an Office of Music Education, which consisted of a full-time director, and an Advisory Council of college faculty and public school music supervisors. Budgetary shortages caused by the Great Depression forced the closing of the office in 1933, leaving a void in Lansing for the next four decades. In 1972, the state of Michigan hired a Fine Arts Consultant to advise the Department of Public Instruction on arts policy; however, the position was made an executive appointment with little clout, and several governors, including Rick Snyder, chose to leave it vacant. Over the years, other associations attempted to advocate for the inclusion of arts in the schools, but none of these dealt with policy or were focused on music. At times, Michigan’s several music education associations attempted joint efforts to address matters of policy, but these were ineffective and few in number.
THE PMEPD IS . . .
THE PMEPD IS NOT . . .
PMEPD ALREADY HAS . . .
THE PMEPD IS . . .
- Music Educators at Elementary, Secondary & Collegiate Levels
- A think tank seeking to influence policy that affects music education
THE PMEPD IS NOT . . .
- Directly representative of state or national music associations
- An organization that operates festivals, camps and professional development activities
PMEPD ALREADY HAS . . .
- Presented at meetings of the Michigan Council for Educator Effectiveness (MCEE)
- Attended meetings of the State Board of Education
- Held the first ever Music Education Policy Summit of teachers, politicos, administrators, industry members
- Developed guidelines for Music Teacher Evaluation
- Developed a response to the MCEE Recommendations for Teacher Evaluation
- Partnering in creating legislation for equitable access to elementary music instruction (draft available here)