The decline in public support for the arts is evident in diminished audience approbation as much as in support by public and, increasingly, private sources. This article postulates that the same phenomenon is taking place with the decrease of arts education in our schools. The author argues that our schools are taking on an increasingly "imagineless" character in their curricula, causing the continuing problem of how to keep our children excited about learning and how, in part, to stem the tide of dropouts in our large urban centers. He states that lack of imagination is reflected in reliance on standardized tests as the measure of one's education--the same "teaching to the test" that has resulted in this state of affairs. In the same fashion, the absence of arts education that connects the creation of art to its primary "raison d'etre"--the reflection or leadership of society--reinforces the approach to teaching that leads to lack of public support for the arts. In turn, the general public's attitude does not reflect comprehension of art having a positive effect on society or the individuals within it. (Contains 27 endnotes.)