When Miss America 2026 Cassie Donegan was 12 years old, she had a plan — and not a good one. Growing up in a low-income family in rural southeastern Virginia, with a mother who was a multi-stroke and heart attack survivor and a father who was a 100% disabled veteran, life was genuinely hard. The…
As state legislatures gavel into session across the country, music and arts educators are facing a defining moment. State budgets are under pressure. Workforce-skills mandates are reshaping diploma requirements. And in too many places, arts education is being treated as a cultural amenity rather than a core academic subject. The Music IS Education Coalition kicked…
The most recent Music IS Education Coalition webinar brought together advocates, policy analysts, and grassroots organizers from across the country to share one message: the fight for music education happens in statehouses, school board rooms, and committee hearings—and it’s winnable, but only if you show up prepared. Start With the Basics: What Advocacy Actually Is…
It started over breakfast. In December 2024, a small group of music education leaders gathered at the Midwest Clinic, everyone fit around a single table, and asked themselves a deceptively simple question: What would happen if we actually worked together? That conversation has grown into the Music IS Education Coalition, a national effort uniting organizations,…