Debbie Harmon: Don’t penalize children by taking away arts

The March 24 news article “Groups lobby to save art, music, PE, foreign language teachers” was really disturbing. We are always reading about what we can cut out of schools, even teachers, yet lawmakers are always boasting about how much of a raise they got.

I am not a teacher, but I went to Raleigh public schools. I can remember running on the playground in a dress (pants were not allowed) and playing kickball. How many of us have framed artwork done by our children in art classes in elementary school? I still treasure a heart necklace and St. Patrick’s necklace made at Lacy Elementary.

There is so much wasteful spending today I am sure Jones Street can find a way to keep our children normal. I do not know the answer, but I do know penalizing the children is not the way.

This story was originally published March 26, 2017 at 6:03 PM with the headline "Debbie Harmon: Don’t penalize children by taking away arts."