MMEA - Massachusetts Music Educators Association
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7-5-2011: Michael LaCava
Testimony on House Bill H1048,
Michael M. LaCava
62 Warren Ave
Chelmsford, MA
01824
e-mail:
mmlacava@gmail.com
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June 28, 2011
TO:
The Joint Committee on Education
FROM:
Michael M. LaCava
RE:
House Bill #1048
Michael LaCava
Credentials:
Good Morning, My name is Michael LaCava, I am the current Immediate Past President of the Massachusetts Music Educators Association which represents the thousands of Music Educators in Massachusetts. I am at this hearing today to discuss my concerns as well as MMEA?s concerns about the potential impact of House Bill #1048 on music programs and school systems in Massachusetts. I believe this bill will have a tremendous impact on our schools and could lead to the demise of struggling music education programs in our state as well as continue to strain local school budgets. This bill seems to have no merit in terms of scientific proof and is addressing a problem or concern that doesn?t exist and has never existed in public school music programs. It seems that this bill is designed to benefit one company that has developed a new sterilization process which would be required if this bill passes. Not only is this an unnecessary process but an expensive one. I have a statement from Dr. Phil Moen concerning the scientific side of our position which will counter the position of those supporting this bill. To illustrate the impact on the local level, I would like to outline the financial consequences to a quality music program such as the Chelmsford Public Schools. I?ll take a small sample of the program and show the costs involved to the school district if this bill is passed. Currently the CHS Band Program has approximately 450 students in Grades 5-8. Many of these students provide their own instruments. However, the school district loans a variety of instruments for students to use, including larger instruments that are not generally rented privately. For these purposes, we?ll take one instrument, a tuba. Currently, the school system owns 7 tubas/sousaphones which are used by different students at different grade levels. From what I could find out for pricing information, each tuba would cost approximately $300 to sterilize from the company that provides this service in Massachusetts. If the process was done only once a year, the cost for just sterilizing the tubas would be $2,100. Multiply that by school instruments including trombones, tenor saxophones, French horns, etc. and the approximate costs to the Chelmsford Schools would be over $10,000 for one year of sterilization?a process the schools cannot afford?especially since there is and has been no need for this process. Not only would this impact our school districts financially, but the time necessary to ship the instruments and have them return would put undue responsibility on the teachers and would not allow the instruments to be used as often which leads to lost instructional time. I have been fortunate to work with music educators from across the state and hear the difficult financial times they are going through. We are persevering and moving forward the best we can, but if this bill becomes reality, the reality will be devastating to our music teachers and programs. The Chelmsford scenario is just a snapshot example of what tremendous impact this bill will have on our music programs and schools across the Commonwealth. In these times of recession and consistent budget reductions, now is not the time to approve an unfunded mandate which will cripple our music programs and potentially eliminate these programs which provide so much for our students, schools and communities. I urge you on behalf of MMEA and the thousands of Music Teachers in our state to consider all of the facts and the real reason behind this unnecessary bill before voting on it and ask that you consider the impact this will have on our music programs, our schools and our students. The MMEA Executive Board, MMEA Members and I ask you to defeat this bill to preserve the future of our music programs. Thank you for your time. Sincerely Michael M. LaCava Immediate Past-President Massachusetts Music Educators Association
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