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, advocates, teachers, and state leaders around one shared conviction: music is not an extra. Music is education.
At our September 2026 webinar, we shared what the coalition has been building, what we’ve learned from state leaders across the country, and most importantly, what you can do right now to protect music education in your community.
What’s Keeping State Leaders Up at Night
Earlier this year, the coalition launched a survey through our member organizations to find out exactly what was threatening music and arts education on the ground. Responses came in from 42 states. What we heard was urgent and consistent.
The top concerns were clear:
- Decreases to state funding, cited by 89% of respondents as their most pressing concern
- Narrowing of curriculum mandates that displace arts courses with CTE, STEM, and financial literacy requirements — 78%
- Workforce development framing that leaves arts education out of the conversation about skills employers actually need — 74%
- Teacher shortages and licensure barriers, especially in rural communities, are a growing crisis with no easy fix
Perhaps most alarming: in some states, students are being released from school during what would be their fine arts period for off-campus religious instruction. In others, once-required arts credits have been folded into broad “choice” categories where students can substitute STEM or CTE coursework. In still others, the fine arts graduation requirement has been eliminated entirely.
These aren’t isolated incidents. They’re a pattern, and advocates across the country are sounding the alarm.
A One-Stop Hub for Advocates: musiciseducation.org
One of the biggest challenges our state leaders identified wasn’t a lack of resources, it was a lack of access to them. Research reports, advocacy templates, talking points, and policy briefs were scattered across dozens of websites, hidden behind broken links, or only known to insiders.
The coalition built musiciseducation.org to solve that problem. The site is organized the way advocates actually work, by level of government. Looking for tools to take to your state legislature? Click on State Resources. Preparing for a school board meeting? Local Resources is your starting point. You’ll find advocacy messaging, policy briefs, funding pathway guides, unified arts statements, and a growing library of success stories — all vetted by the coalition and ready to use.
Meet Karl B: Your AI Advocacy Assistant
One of the most powerful new tools on the site is Karl B, a custom-built AI advocacy assistant trained on decades of music education research and advocacy strategy.
Karl B is named after Karl Bruhn, a former senior executive at the Yamaha Corporation of America who became NAMM’s first director of market development and is widely recognized as the father of the modern music education advocacy movement. One of Karl’s most enduring insights: people care, they just often don’t know how to care effectively.
That’s exactly what Karl B is designed to fix. He can help you draft a letter to your state legislator, build talking points for a school board presentation, develop an advocacy strategy for your community, research the academic and economic benefits of music education, and even role-play a difficult conversation with a skeptical official.
Karl B uses a locked-down knowledge base, not just surfing the open web, so the information he provides is grounded in verified research rather than guesswork. And as the coalition continues to refine and expand his knowledge base, he’ll only get better. As we like to say: the version you meet today is the worst version he’ll ever be.
You’ll find Karl B at musiciseducation.org under the Ask Karl B tab. A user guide and feedback form are both available to help you get the most out of every interaction.
Making the Case Visually: Today a Music Student, Tomorrow a…
Sometimes the most powerful advocacy tool isn’t a data report, it’s a hallway full of student voices. The coalition has adapted the “Today a Music Student, Tomorrow a…” campaign (originally developed by Arts New Jersey) into a ready-to-use resource for schools and communities.
Have your students fill in the blank: Tomorrow a doctor. Tomorrow an engineer. Tomorrow a senator. Post the signs in the hallway. The visual impact is immediate — and it communicates something that no data point can quite capture: we are not teaching music to create musicians. We are teaching music to create great people.
There’s also a version for adults, “Yesterday a Music Student, Today a…” perfect for engaging elected officials, business leaders, and community members who may not realize their own musical background. You can find both versions on the Local Resources page at musiciseducation.org.
Good News From the States
Advocacy is working. Across the country, coalition partners are winning important battles:
- Massachusetts introduced the Lowell Mason Arts Education Equity Act, modeled after California’s landmark Prop 28, which would mandate a 1% increase in state funding for arts education across all disciplines.
- New York State Senate passed legislation requiring arts and music instruction be incorporated into the curriculum for all public school students, with advocates now working the Assembly.
- North Carolina House champions secured inclusion of a proposed K–5 performing and visual arts requirement in the state budget, a major step forward for elementary access.
- Illinois advocates are working to preserve the state’s unique fine arts indicator in its ESSA accountability plan, the only one of its kind in the country.
Each of these wins came through sustained, organized, informed advocacy — exactly the kind the Music IS Education Coalition exists to support.
Your Move
The challenges facing music education right now are real. But so are the advocates, the tools, and the momentum building across the country. Here’s where to start:
- Visit musiciseducation.org — explore the resources, read the State Leaders Survey report, and bookmark the site for your advocacy work.
- Try Karl B — ask him to help you draft a letter, build a presentation, or prepare for a tough conversation. The first prompt is waiting for you.
- Join the coalition — there’s a Get Involved page at musiciseducation.org. The more voices we bring together, the stronger we become.
- Share resources — if you have tools, success stories, or research that belongs in the hub, tell us. This coalition grows because of you.
Because when people know how to care effectively, when advocates have the tools, the data, the strategies, and the community, music education wins. Let’s get to work.