Music Educators have been running away screaming for many years now. I know because that's what I did. The administration did not want me to teach Music, Educate the students, or any such facimile. They wanted someone to "just keep the kids singing & use lots of hand motions so they don't hit each other much." That is a direct quote from a principal. I was told to not push instrumental Music as it was a costly program which they were trying to phase out. They wanted a babysitter who would not expect anything of the students. They wanted the babysitter to not complain that the Music books were over 15 years old. Never mind that the law said they couldn't be more than 10 years old. The parents expected that the babysitter would autimatically write "A" on every grade card because their precious offspring are so perfect. I decided I had had it when a principal told me & the 3rd grade teacher that if we suspected any kind of neglect or abuse to a specific 3rd grader who showed up after a long absence with burns & bruises over half her body, we were not to report anything because the school system could not afford "any more lawsuits."
    Music educators are no longer taught how to teach pitch to the children. In our technological society, we use listening devices with headsets for individuals. The kids listen to noise which has no melody. Pianos are becoming rare in most homes. When they are there, they are rarely in tune. Singing is no longer a common pass-time in families or when kids gather together. Many churches in the USA do have choirs, but the majority are small churches which do not pay their Musicians, and the Musicians are usually amateurs.
   The local school system has decided that they will no longer begin instrumental Music in the 4th (strings) or 5th grade, but will put it off for 2 years, thus saving lots of money. Never mind that kids who study Music are smarter over all--this has been documented. This is what the so called "Mozart Effect" is all about. Between cutting the arts out of the schools, using electronic devices instead of real acoustic instruments-which must be tuned & thus develops the "ear" to learn good pitch, lowering our standards of "education" & teaching kids that Educated Musicians have little or no value in our society, instead they should value the people who are rich from making hit CDs while the performers have little or no Music training.