Be sure to vote ‘yes’ to support school music

||| FROM PAUL ANDERSSON for MUSIC ADVOCACY GROUP |||

The Music Advocacy Group (MAG) encourages all voters on Orcas island to vote “yes” in support of the EP&O school levy renewal this February. Voting “yes” does not increase your taxes – the levy amount maintains current costs and even presents a slight decrease over the next four years. Voting “yes” does ensure that students in our schools continue to receive the resources and instruction they need in order to experience and excel in music and the arts from an early age.

One can argue that music is the most important subject in the school, a subject which supports all other core disciplines while reinforcing teamwork, individual expression, independence, emotional well-being and self-discipline. Yet financial gaps in state funding for school music programs persist, and the levy provides the most foundational funding to these programs. MAG further supports music in public schools by providing outside funding and resources to our students and teachers. In the 2022-23 school year, MAG provided over $31,000 in financial support from generous community donors for basic music opportunities for Orcas youth, such as off-island field trips, competitions, musical instruments, specialty scholarships and more.

Without this levy funding, our public school and music programs will suffer. Please make the easy choice and vote “yes” to fund music in our schools on Orcas Island.