Traditional middle and secondary schools offer a multidisciplinary approach to the curriculum with an emphasis on college and/or vocational school preparation suggesting a one-size-fits-all approach to education. There are however, over 300 public, magnet schools in the United States. One hundred thirty of those are schools for the performing and creative arts in the United States. These schools offer an alternate focus, pedagogy and modus operandi. These taxpayer-funded schools provide a haven

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... for talented students with exceptional creativity. The millennial focus on educational has been on nontraditional, less bureaucratic charter school programs. As the Obama administration considers the allocation of funding to schools through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's Race for the Top Fund, support for the philosophies and practices of magnet programs (schools for the creative and performing arts in particular) should be considered. It is proposed the federal financial priorities encompass a variety of programs both old and new; specifically magnet school programs.