The past four years have been challenging for music programs across Kansas and the nation. Financial restrictions have forced state governments to make difficult decisions related to funding. With education being one of the major expenditures, school districts had been called upon to trim budgets, sometimes to the point of eliminating educational offerings. As per the KMEA surveys with a response-rate of 65%, the following are the number of teaching positions lost from Kansas school districts:

• 77 positions in 2007-2009
• 143 additional positions in 2010
• 224 more positions cut in 2011
• 71 more positions cut in 2012 (good news: 32 positions were added back)
• 483 less music teaching positions in Kansas than in 2007

Coming into this academic year, 20% of the responding districts reported a reduction in funding from the prior year's support (five percent of the districts lowered more that 25%), which is less than in former years (48% in 2011 and 60% in 2010). It is good to see that fewer program budgets are being lowered, but remember that the lowering of budgets is in addition to former cuts. Music programs are being taught with less financial support than in previous years. While budgets and positions are recovering, contact time with students is being reported as staying the same. Essentially, this translates into music educators in Kansas maintaining the same contact time with less staffing and funding support. A new addition to this year's survey was a component of job satisfaction. On average, 53% of the districts responding reported no change in job satisfaction and 28% reported a decrease.

After having discussed this situation with legislators and reading recent announcements in the newspaper, we must be prepared for additional financial burdens placed on schools in the coming year. We must advocate everywhere and to everyone. This is a time when advocacy for our music programs is most crucial so music education in Kansas not only survives, but thrives.

Our best advocacy is a strong music program that is visible beyond our participants. We need to make extra efforts so that those outside of our students and their parents are aware of the type of learning that is involved in music. As indicated by the 21st Century Skills and evidenced in the Common Core, recently accepted by the Kansas State Department of Education, our programs must clearly and visibly demonstrate our students' learning in the areas of creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, communication and collaboration, social and cross cultural skills, leadership and responsibility.

One of the goals for the KMEA Advocacy Committee is to populate the advocacy section of the KMEA website with measures of advocacy including:

• Ways to exhibit the high-quality music teaching that occurs in Kansas from pre-school through high school.
• Information that can help you share the value and benefit of music education. Non-musicians must be able to recognize the rigor and educational value associated with your program.
• Ideas to celebrate students' musical accomplishments.
• Ways to keep your parents apprised of important issues and involving them in advocacy efforts.
• How you can participate in the national advocacy network for Music Education, see http://advocacy.nafme.org.