Today’s N&O includes a weak defense of the status quo with respect to the UNC School of the Arts by Chancellor John Mauceri. You can read his piece here.
In his Pope Center paper released last December, Max Borders argued that the School of the Arts, like almost every other fine arts school in the nation, could be and should be privately funded. Why? Because taxpayers, most of whom receive no benefit at all from the arts training provided by the school, should not be compelled to pay for it. Furthermore, institutions that have to rely on voluntary fundraising have a strong incentive to operate more efficiently than do institutions that depend on state appropriations. On those arguments, Mauceri has nothing to say.
Mauceri devotes several paragraphs to defending his school against criticisms that were not made. Borders did not contend that the arts are not valuable; nor did he criticize the quality of the programs at the school.
Mauceri takes issue with Borders on the question of what percentage of UNCSA graduates remain in North Carolina, saying that the figure is 50 percent rather than 15 percent. I say that’s entirely irrelevant because no one who goes to fine arts performances knows or cares where the performers were trained. There is a national market for artistic talent and organizations in North Carolina have to compete for it just the same as do organizations in the 48 states that don’t have a state-funded school.
Lastly, Mauceri argues that we should keep the status quo because UNCSA accounts for only 1 percent of the UNC budget. Again, that’s irrelevant. The state should not spend money on anything that can be provided by voluntary means, no matter how great or small the amount.
This piece was just a song and dance meant to distract people from the real issues.
