I Googled "Schools dropping music" and found several perspectives.  This particular article has cited works at the end and might be useful references for you to explore.  You might also contact MENC (Music Educators National Conference).  I suggest you ask your professor if you can have a round table discussion in your community of music educators and parents and cite quotes from this discussion in your paper.  Secondary music educators can easily tell you what problems occur at their level when the music classes have been cut from the elementary and middle school levels.  You might also explore Elliot Eisner's discussions on the importance of arts to children or the problems with cutting the arts. 

Hi, Russell, and welcome.  Make sure you have your causes and effects worked out.  You said schools were dropping music to save money.  That isn't what the article says.  It says that the need for remedial classes in English and Math require more tutoring time, not quite the same thing at all.  And the sane approach to that (as opposed to a band-aid approach) is to tighten up the teaching at lower levels so remedial work isn't needed!  Not more expense, just a lot better teaching.

 

It also mentions the space race.  Look up Brain Drain ans Space Race and see what you find.  This is nothing new at all.  It's a constant battle that has to be re-fought every generation.  My parents were fighting it back in the '60s.

 

And you might want to point out that choral music is by far the cheapest kind of music there is, not requiring band instruments or uniforms, orchestral instruments, or keyboard labs.  And that once the investment in that infrastructure HAS been made, cutting out those classes is clearly a big waste of money, not a saving at all.

All the best,

John