Band As A Political Unit?

Should SHS band have played at pro-tax rally?
Photos


By PETE SHERMAN (pete.sherman@sj-r.com)
THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER
Posted Apr 23, 2010 @ 11:30 PM
Last update Apr 24, 2010 @ 06:45 AM
Should the Springfield High School Marching Band have performed at Wednesday’s pro-tax increase rally at the Illinois Capitol?

Most aren’t making a big deal out of the band’s march at the event, which drew thousands of people from around Illinois. But some Springfield School Board members say whether to allow student groups to participate in political events deserves more careful consideration in the future.

The SHS band wasn’t the only student group at the rally. State Journal-Register reporters estimate at least 10 percent of the crowd were children. Students from Iles and Athens Junior High schools also attended.

“I don’t think I would have sent the band in for that,” said school board president Bill Looby.

Looby works for the Illinois AFL-CIO, which is part of the Responsible Budget Coalition that organized the rally. He said he doesn’t think the band violated any district policy by going and that it appears permission was granted through the proper channels. District and school officials approved the band’s participation.

Gray area

But Looby said the board might want to revisit district policy.

“I kind of see it as a gray area. I know kids have been released for politicians being in town and things like that before.”

“Maybe the lesson is, when these things happen, we need to be more careful,” said board member Susan White, a past president of the SHS parent-teacher organization.

“This isn’t the biggest thing in the world, but in my opinion, I don’t think kids should be used for those kinds of events. I don’t know why you take kids out of school for that,” said board member Cindy Tate.

The SHS Marching Band performs 25 to 30 times a year, said band teacher Kelly Goldberg. Past practice has been to seek board approval for out-of-state trips, such as the band’s upcoming performance at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Memorial Day. Students raise funds to pay their own way on those trips.

But Goldberg said bands in the Springfield schools have unique opportunities to perform based on being in the capital city.

“We get asked to do things that probably wouldn’t even be on other schools’ radar,” Goldberg said.

That has included performing for visiting presidents and political events, including, Goldberg noted, when the SHS band played at a campaign rally for gubernatorial candidate Jim Ryan with President George W. Bush several years ago.

“You’d want to play for President Obama campaigning for (U.S. Senate candidate) Alexi Giannoulias, too,” she said.

Invited by teachers union

The band accepted an invitation to play at the rally earlier this week. The Illinois Education Association, an umbrella organization of teachers unions -- including the Springfield Education Association -- called the district asking for a band to participate, said Goldberg and district spokesman Jimmy Rice.

The IEA is among the dozens of organizations that are part of the Responsible Budget Coalition.

“We have a long-standing relationship with the IEA — they are our teachers,” Rice said.

Goldberg said she received one call from a parent concerned about the late notice and about conflicts with class work. The band was bused to the Capitol at 11 a.m. and played until 1 p.m. The IEA provided lunch afterward, according to Goldberg’s SHS website.

The students missed about four class periods. Rice said the district spent about $300 on bus transportation.

If anything, band parents seem to support the band’s presence at the rally.

“From my standpoint, I wouldn’t look at it as the band playing at a political rally,” said Laura Bartman, president of the Springfield High School Band Parents Association. “This was about education funding — and fine-arts programs would be the ones getting cut. But for me, this also is where we could showcase our band when there were 15,000 people and national coverage,”

Bartman works for the Illinois Federation of Teachers, which also is part of the Responsible Budget Coalition. However, she said she didn’t learn the band was playing at the rally until her son, a band member and senior at SHS, told her.

Rice said the district also saw the rally as an opportunity for the band to perform.

“We probably should and could have delved more deeply into the issue,” Rice said. “But on the surface, we didn’t see it as sending our kids off to do political work, but as a chance to play their music in a public setting and use what they’ve learned in the classroom.”

Pete Sherman can be reached at 788-1539.

Springfield School District policy

There are a lot of gray areas in Springfield School District policies concerning student participation in events outside of school.

One directive states “neither an individual, nor the school as a whole, shall be permitted to use school time in working on community-sponsored projects unless such an undertaking is contributing to the educational program.”

Another states that high school performances “beyond the scope of the usual co-curricular program” require school board approval. Current practice is to seek board approval when student bands and other groups want to travel out of state.

Also, the board must approve expenses for such events, whether or not the funding comes from the district or from fundraising.

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