There
is far too much literature on this subject to create a definitive
bibliography here so I have listed what me and other folks at various
arts organizations repeatedly cite. This is not cherry picking for a
preconceived conclusion. Furthermore, that would be hard to do as there
is little data which contradicts what has already been proven. The vast
majority of these are easily applicable in some significant manner to
Fairfield.
These
citations are mostly those with what is called empirical and
statistical findings, meaning studies not based on theories or stating
philosophies but actual research, experiments or results that employ
methods, including surveys or actual data collections that use but are
not limited to quantitative methods. This is also known as level 1-3
evidence, the highest levels one has for proving an argument to be true
In some cases I have listed concepts in bold- those are live inks you can click on to go read what I continue to describe in the text which follows.
In
life, we sometime do things by wrote, sometimes by habit, sometimes by
directive and sometimes out of fear or lesser virtues. In some fields,
like flying an airplane, training those who defend us or practicing
medicine, we choose a direction because we have researched smartly and
found what works best
In
life we also have biases and beliefs, honestly or otherwise obtained,
about how things work and in particular, where it is best to invest
money and also where we should not invest if money is limited. Sometimes
those biases are wrong and we would be wise to go forth and read. Too
frequently we do not do that
Also in life, we may read and believe but fail because we did not implement the lessons correctly and follow through
The
facts are very clear about the benefits of a comprehensive investment
from cradle to grave in the arts that engages every level of a community
and thus breaks down traditional barriers that need not be there. What
to do is clear; doing it is not as easy as we humans have aptitudes as
well as attitudes that need to align to accomplish major sea changes in
our communities. The biases in our way are often hard earned by what are
well intended sincere folks and not easily overcome.
Thus,
an entire community effort is needed to get the results the data says
you will have. Anything short of that will fail and probably jade the
community from ever trying again. The responsibility, the benefit and
the fault lie with us as regards success or failure, not with whether
the case has been inarguably made; it has
Good luck Fairfield and as always, this is pro bono- Just please, act now to save our community and kids
