SAT scores tell only part of a larger story about the ways in which art works to give the skills needed for a successful life. The arts intersect with the economy, not just in the actual revenues generated today by arts-related fields or in the number of new arts-based jobs, but in the preparation of the next generation for a workplace that will demand skills that only the arts impart.

FACT—The Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) studied the “demands of the workplace and whether our young people are capable of meeting those demands.” Studies over two years examined the “changes in the world of work and the implications of those changes for learning.” The SCANS report specifically noted the relationship of the arts to the SCANS competencies.

Source: “Learning a Living: A Blueprint for High Performance,” US Department of Labor, April,1992.

“The taxpayers must see the relationship between putting on a school play and running a business convention or playing in a quartet and working on a product design team or writing a score and writing a multi-media computer program or dancing and making a sales presentation.”

Source: “SCANS 2000: The Workforce Skills Web Site,” John Hopkins University Institute for Policy Studies, www.scans.jhu.edu/General/arts.html.

Kentucky employers are looking for creative, innovative workers, who have learned teamwork, as Toyota Motor Manufacturing’s Web site attests:

“Visit Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky and enter the future of automotive excellence. We have the courage to be creative and the confidence to lead. It’s people like you who keep us out in front. While our values are traditional, innovation marks our every move. If you’re a creative team player whose mind is always racing, bring your competitive spirit to Toyota.”

Source: Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, www.toyota.com/html/about/careers_jobs/tmm_kentucky/index.jsp.

 

It’s a given that today’s employee has to have basic skills. But superior skills are needed to survive competitively in the global context. Acquiring them has to begin as early as possible in a child’s education and we see that it comes through arts education. We are not doing justice to our economy or our children if they don’t get that in the K-12 context. That’s why Ashland supports arts education—not only to build better kids but to build a better workforce.

Dan Lacy, Vice President for Communications, Ashland, Inc.