Sanders boosts Arts Education at Town Meeting in Hinesburg

[Donkees]

Last edited Mon Mar 27, 2017, 05:26 AM - Edit history (1)

[font color="gray"]Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., responds to questions posed by students Saturday night at Champlain Valley Union High School in Hinesburg. (Photo: JOEL BANNER BAIRD/FREE PRESS)[/font]

March 25, 2017

Excerpt:

HINESBURG - Half an hour before the 6 p.m. show, an audience of mostly adults jammed the auditorium at Champlain Valley Union High School.

Backstage, out of earshot, hundreds of student choral singers raised their voices — with questions for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont.

Sanders began by promising the throng that he would do everything he could to ensure that federal funding for the arts and humanities would remain in place.

"But what can I do, what can my classmates do, to make sure that the arts stay healthy and alive in Vermont?" asked a student from Colchester High School.

"Do your best to stand up and fight for the arts," the senator replied. "You've got to make your case to the local school board, and to your state legislature - that the arts are equally important to a good education"

"I believe and I know that you believe that when we talk about education is not just math, science and English — as important as all those subjects are," he said. "When we talk about a true education, about educating the whole person, we must never forget that art and culture are an integral part of that."

Sanders continued: "In Vermont and all over the country, schools are being forced to make really painful decisions. Do we hire a language teacher or do we continue with the arts?

"No school in America should have to make a choice about whether we fund the arts or languages or athletics. We can do it all, and for the sake of our kids, we've got to do it all

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/life/2017/03/25/sanders-boosts-arts-education-town-meeting-hinesburg/99488174/