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In 2009, the Obama Administration announced the new government/private company initiative for $260 million called “Educate to Innovate” with the mission “to move American students to the top of the pack in science and math achievement over the next decade” (Charlette). This initiative's byproduct was the creation of STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics). STEM education’s mission is “to ensure that Americans survive in an age defined by technology and shaped by global competition” (Zakaria). However, this approach to new innovation can be narrow-minded. Focusing on only math, science, and technology in the new era of American innovation can only answer how we innovate not why we innovate. The only way we can answer why is through thinking, writing, creating, and learning. For example, the arts are very beneficial to the world of innovation. Art subjects can teach flexibility, creativity, and adaptability which are all required for any career in the work force. In one STEM workshop, guitar instructors were instructed to build a solid body guitar. In this workshop, the students taught themselves knowledge on engineering, mathematics, basic physics, as well as electricity but were also exposed to the arts (Online). This shows that liberal arts can overlap into technicial training and there is more to innovation than just the surface of math and science. Author Fahreed Zakaria of the article, “Why America’s Obsession with STEM Education is Dangerous,” explains, “You can make a sneaker equally well in many parts of the world, but you can’t sell it for $300 unless you’ve built a story around it...The value added is in the brand — how it is imagined, presented, sold and sustained” (Zakaria). Educational innovation should not be based on how technologically advanced we are if we are not thinking individually.

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Recently in the field of education, creativity is being undervalued and not seen as an outlet for many students, and because of this, schools are cutting many art and music programs across the country.  Will Burns, the CEO of Ideasicle, claims creativity is “[a] more upstream life skill that can be applied to all aspects of a student's life” (Burns). Many schools believe in the outlet of “musical, artistic, and theatrical talents” showing you are creative rather than the idea of creating something itself (Burns). Correlating creativity and talent makes creativity seem trivial to school curriculum and easy to take away. For instance, the Trump Administration proposed a deep cut to the arts in his first federal budget plan for the 2018 fiscal year, eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities (Sopan). President Trump also proposed eliminating the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which is a “key source for PBS and National Public Radio Stations, as well as the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars” (Sopan). Both endowments bring in together about a total of $300 million which results in a small piece of the $1.1 trillion total for annual discretionary spending. With this, education funding in schools have dropped $9.2 billion (14% from 2017) in Trump’s budget plan (Parlapiano and Aisch) which can be a devastating loss in creativity.  The Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos explained in her statement involving the budget plan, “The budget also reflects a series of tough choices we have had to make when assessing the best use of taxpayer money. It ensures funding for programs with proven results for students while taking a hard look at programs that sound nice but simply haven't yielded the desired outcomes” (Education). These endowments have provided grants for striving artists and musicians for decades with a promising voice for the future, however due to the creativity crisis in our world, they are constantly being overlooked in society all the way to the government resulting in drastic cuts in the arts. School curriculum needs to evolve into more than just core classes to truly understand that everyone can be creative, not just art and music students. Developing criteria for students to develop and use their own unique creativity, regardless of their medium, will help our society understand our own potential. Like what Burns explains, “If our kids truly understand creativity, they will also appreciate the creativity of others more profoundly. They will recognize it when they see it. They will enjoy museums, artists, plays, and concerts far more when they realize the best of the best are not only talented, but are highly creative within that talent” (Burns).

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Bradbury describes a society that is taught to never question, only answer. Therefore, we see the society become clones of one another as the story progresses. For example, in the beginning, we are introduced to Guy Montag as they say, “Montag grinned the fierce grin of all men singed and driven back by the flame” (Bradbury 2). Bradbury uses this as social commentary to warn us that we are turning into clones of the system as we are not taught any different. Guy starts to become his own character early in the story when he meets Clarisse McClellan, a young girl in high school, or as she explains, “‘I’m seventeen and I’m crazy” (Bradbury 5). Her view on the world differs from many others as she is a young, untouched mind free to learn without restraint and she carries “a gentle hunger that touched over everything with endless curiosity” (Bradbury 3). Clarisse reveals in the story that she sees a psychiatrist since her society thinks she is crazy for thinking different thoughts and observing the world for what it is around her. She comments on her peers by saying, “They just want to know what I do with all my time. I tell them sometimes I just sit and think. But I won’t tell them what. I’ve got them running…” (Bradbury 23). She influences Montag to start looking at the world around and he starts to question his society and the burning of books. This questioning is only strengthened when he meets Faber who gives light on the education system. He says, “‘I don’t know things, sir…’ ‘I talk about the meaning of things. I sit here and know I’m alive’” (Bradbury 71). He explains through the story that the society only worries about answers instead of thinking for themselves for their answer. The society always comes to a uniform answer, and if some people do not agree with this idea, they are banished. Through these two rebelling characters' influence, he takes the leap of faith and reads one of the books he found in the fire. He is willing to put behind the society he once knew and find himself in books.  He explains in his soliloquy to Mildred, “...maybe books can get us half out of the cave. They just might stop us from making the same damn insane mistakes!... God, Millie, don’t you see? An hour, a day, two hours, with these books, and maybe…” (Bradbury 70). Montag starts to believe in the magic of books and what they will do for the society, give them independence they didn’t know they deserved.

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Throughout the story, school is seen as a social obstacle. There is a negative stigma that school is unnecessary as seen when Officer Beatty explains to Guy, “School is shortened, discipline relaxed, philosophies, histories, languages dropped, English and spelling gradually and gradually neglected, finally almost completely ignored…” (Bradbury 53). The education system in this society is ignored by the people and is seen as a burden to society. They also burn books which can symbolize the killing of the education system and only the beginning of the uniformity of ideas. The former teachers are banished from society and forced to push their knowledge down and burn their books. This is seen in the character of Faber, a retired English professor who had been “thrown out upon the world 40 years ago when the last liberal arts college shut down for lack of students and patronage” (Bradbury 71). Faber is a big influence in the turning point of Guy Montag’s character. His belief is that schools are needed and that books are feared because they expose life in its most vulnerable form. Poetry and other forms of literature profusely comments on life and the impact these writers have on our life is immense. For example, in the book, Montag introduces poetry to Mildred and her TV friends by reading the poem, "The Sea of Faith," when Mrs. Phelps starts crying and exclaims, "'Silly words, silly words, silly awful hearing words...Why do people want to hurt people? Not enough hurt in the world, you got to tease people with stuff like that!" (Bradbury 97).  He explains throughout his contribution to the fight for education, “Mr. Montag, you are looking at a coward…” (Bradbury 78). Because of his character of a English professor, he has been belittled by the government and he knows his voice will be not taken seriously like Montag's will since he is realizing what the alienation of books is doing to the society.

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This graph represents the data from the College Board showing that students in high school with a fine arts course study background scored 11 to 13% higher on the SAT than students with no fine arts course study background (Jacobs).

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Author of Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury brings up a haunting point about our education system.

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Robinson brings up an interesting point about the significance creativity has on the children of today's education.

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Pablo Picasso was a famous artist and painter. He was very ahead of his time and realizes that children sometimes are forced to neglect their creativity as they grow up.

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In one of the most famous TED talks of all time, Sir Ken Robinson talks about student creativity and how our education system may be “killing off creativity.” Robinson talks about all forms of creativity that is being lost in schools. He also brings up an interesting argument of how our school system has not changed since the 19th Century.

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Transcript of "Do schools kill creativity?"

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TED Talk Subtitles and Transcript: Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

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Ray Bradbury used his novel, Fahrenheit 451, to put focus on America’s educational system, and according to current research, Bradbury was accurate in his commentary presented in the novel. America’s educational system is killing creativity in schools, specifically considering the current cuts on art and humanities programs and the increasing push for math and science.

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Mrs. Jenkins
English 10-7
17 April 2019

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Youtube creator, Prince Ea, uses the judicial system to bring the school system into court. In an inspiring monologue, Prince Ea brings into question the unchanging and uninspiring education system. This video made its mark on a lot of our society sitting at 16.5 million views using new technology to get across a wider audience.