for so much more than just keeping your child busy or relaxed. They've been proven to boost a child's self-image. The self esteem, confidence and pride that comes from art in education is truly incredible and each child should be able to experience that. The benefits of arts education programs in schools can also extend beyond therapeutic practices. Involvement in the arts can lead to increased academic performance. For example, students who participate in an arts centered program show increased performance in both verbal and mathematical assessments (Vaughn and Winner, 2000). In places like the United States, arts education is not as valued. However, some national reforms like the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires that arts education, visual and performing, be considered core subjects as they have been proven by many tests to work. Through these requirements schools gain the funds to implement subjects and supplementary items, like books and calculators, that students may need to be successful. Schools can also gain funds by participating in national and regional standardized tests, these tests however, only test students on their ability to perform high in subjects such as math, literacy, and science. Art courses aid student's ability to perform high in these subjects as they challenge a student's brain. Tests like the Mozart effect, the effect that learning and listening to classical music have on the brain, gives students the ability to learn, reduce stress, and positively change sleeping patterns more easily. Art programs within education has its importance in not only expanding the mind but keeping kids off the streets and out of the correctional system. Studies show that students with art programs are three times more likely to graduate than those who don't. Art programs give kids somewhere to express themselves if they don't have the support to do that at home, it also gets kid to think creatively and inventively, expanding a kids way of thinking in general. Kids that had access to art programs or afterschool programs had better grades, it allowed them to improve their overall skills in school. All of these things are ways that kids keep from getting "bored" in school and getting in with the wrong crowd. Keeping art programs in schools is an important way to keep our kids safe and smart. Professor P Vijayakumar, chairperson,Centre for Social and Organisational Leadership (C SOL) at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS),