4th grade orchestra?

I do not have kids yet, so I'll admit that I'm not familiar with some of the programs in the schools today. Given that, I was more than a little surprised to see this in the Janesville Gazette today:

The Janesville School District is again considering one of the hottest potatoes it's handled in recent memory.

The district proposed in 2001 that fourth-grade orchestra instruction be dropped. The district backed off after parents and students attacked the idea.

Fourth grade orchestra? Why was it started in the first place? Call me ignorant, but this seems like a wasteful or inefficient use of resources. When I came up through my school system, more advanced music education like this did not begin until junior high school. If you or your parents wanted you to get started with your music lessons earlier than that, then they started you out in private lessons. And I don't want to hear about the poor not being able to access private lessons. My parents were not rolling in dough, but they wanted me to have musical training, and they found a way to make sure I had the private lessons. Also, not having advanced musical training in elementary school did not have a long term negative affect on my school district's music education. Even without it, they had one of the best high school programs year after year.

Janesville, let those teachers concentrate their efforts at the junior high level. You don't need elementary school orchestra. Honest.