The two most cut programs in High School are sports programs and arts programs, however in a recent poll, respondents said they
A poll done at Huffingtonpost.com shows that 12.08% of voters saw sports as unnecessary compared to only 1.24% against Arts
would rather cut the school newspaper, summer school, field trips, security guards, custodians and libraries before they touched sports or arts. This poll is telling because despite what people want, schools continue to cut arts and sports when trimming down. If a school isn’t cutting both, there is usually a tough decision as to which one to cut and it can go either way. The argument is broken down simply among most people: Sports are better for us physically and arts are better for us mentally. In reality though, it isn’t that simple. Studies have shown that playing sports can be great for mental health as well as physical health and for arts studies have shown that arts can stimulate the brain and keep someone more active, which could lead to better physical health.
Regardless of what studies say however, people will always have their opinion and this flip book shows a few opinions from people on whats more important.
When asked, Cheshire Athletic director Steve Trifone didn’t shy away from sports “I would think that, in athletics your serving more kids, but that doesn’t mean you shy away from the arts. Sports are big, its not just win loss, theres a lot more for the kids behind the scenes.”
Arts can are also important because of the ability to have an arts class and an after school club. “My favorite class in all of my high school career was probably my music
theory class in junior year. The class was a blissful break from the
typical structure of the typical math and science class. It taught me,
not only as a musician, but as a student, to be a more creative and
resourceful human being.” Said a student when asked in a New York Times article. Due to budget cuts, the percentage of kids with access to music has declined to about 50%.
Whats more important?
With this debate comes the bigger issue at hand, which is undoubtedly the budget cuts themselves. Almost 300,000 jobs have been lost since 2008 and that includes higher education and thats a number that could increase as country wide budgets will most likely decrease by over 10%.
Average amount of kids enlisted in each major sports program
The High School Economy 
