To Fulton County School Board Members,

We are truly surprised and disappointed in our county's school board consideration to eliminate instrumental music from elementary schools. The discipline gained through learning an instrument carries into all areas of study for kids. Many formal studies show that kids who play instruments are usually the better students in their classes. The better they become at playing an instrument, the higher their grades are in academic subjects, and the higher their scores are on standardized tests.

Learning an instrument requires coordination, discipline, ordering of thoughts, finding patterns, following directions, teamwork, and the necessity of learning another completely different language -- that of reading music. The skills required to learn an instrument and especially to play well take many years to acquire. The younger the students, the more quickly they will adapt to these requirements and the more years of schooling they will have to reap the benefits.

All the testing and schoolwork you could possibly do could not begin to replace the benefits kids get from learning to play an instrument and the social skills of playing together.

Please do your research and talk to people. If you take instrumental music out of the elementary schools there will be even more flight into the private schools that offer these opportunities. That would be a tragedy for our school system.

We ask that you reconsider this before the budget vote.