By Design

My middle school had a friggin planetarium. I think you had to pay to rent/buy an instrument, but group music instruction was free after about grade 4 or so (earlier grades had music, too, just not maybe on instruments). I think The Kids Today should learn some math, but the "failing schools" narrative due to testing is just about providing an excuse for the grifters to steal their bit. My guess is they'll move on to bigger grifts at some point, as there is only so much blood you can draw from a stone, but they'll leave destroyed school districts in their wake and it will be incredibly costly to rebuild them.

But to devote so much time to algebra, ninth graders are no longer taking art, music and health. Now Ms. Brady and the other teachers are trying to pare the curriculum to give the students more time for other subjects.

And some people wonder if it is all worth it.