Children's band forced to play pencils after school runs out of instruments

Twenty middle school music students in Sacramento, California, are learning how to perform using pencils after their school ran out of instruments. Student interest in Arcade Fundamental Middle School's band and music programs has been increasing year after year - so much so that the school ran out of musical instruments and instructed a handful of students to begin playing pencils.

"We currently have about 15 to 20 students playing pencils because we don't have any more instruments to pass out," music teacher Donna Poll said. The school has four traditional band and two jazz band classes, of which around 190 students have elected to enroll. Last year, that number was at 140 students.



That increase comes at a time when state funding for educational programs, including music, is decreasing. Faced with a widening income deficit, California has shed some $17 billion from educational programs over the past two fiscal years, leaving schools to decide what to keep and what to cut.

On the chopping block have been teacher's salaries and - in some cases - jobs, as well as extracurricular activities and after-school programs. Out of 400 schools surveyed earlier this year, half had sliced art, drama and music programmes in an effort to keep from going farther in the red. Pool is asking anyone interested in donating instruments, regardless of the condition, to contact her.

With news video.