A slow, steady beat echoed through the closed door of Room 14 at Ojai's Mira Monte School last week. Inside, a class of fourth-graders hunched over electronic keyboards, their fingers tapping on the keys and heads bobbing up and down to the music.

"There should be more music in schools," Isai Lara, 9, said as he marched to a beat with his classmates leaving the piano lab. "All the kids like it. And when you're older, you might get to have your own instrument."

This school year — thanks to a rare infusion of state funding — a significant increase in music, arts and physical education is becoming reality. Violins, guitars, electronic pianos, art supplies and even archery sets are showing up on various Ventura County campuses.

Statewide, public schools are getting $500 million in one-time funds for visual and performing arts, music and physical education programs — an investment state officials have called a first. More than $11.4 million was earmarked for Ventura County schools.

Each school district received about $83 per student and had to earmark money for each of its campuses.

"It's a lot of money," said Kathy Asher, director of elementary curriculum and instruction for the Ventura Unified School District. "This is important. It is an incredible opportunity."

The money was included in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2006-07 state budget, and many districts last school year began planning for it with teachers, parents and other groups. As students return to school this year, they should start seeing some of the changes.

Drawing on existing talent

"Everyone is doing something a little bit different," said Robin Freeman, assistant superintendent in the Hueneme School District. "Most of the schools are really looking at the talent that they have at the school sites and trying to draw on those."

In Hueneme schools, which received $661,685, the additions include guitars, rhythm instruments, artists in the classroom, and new gym equipment.

"Many folks see this as this incredibly essential, long-overdue down payment," said Leslie Johnson, executive committee chairwoman for the California Alliance for Arts Education.

The alliance advocates for more arts education in public schools, not only because they are important core subjects, Johnson said. "To have a quality, complete education for students, you need to include the arts," she said.

While many arts programs have been supported by parents, community groups and local artists, a core curriculum cannot depend on such assistance, which is not present in all schools. That's not how public schools support math, English and other subjects, Johnson said.

Most parents and educators want arts in the schools, she added. They don't want a narrowing of the curriculum, which educators have reported since the inception of the federal No Child Left Behind Act and its focus on English and math test scores.

Paul Browne taught at Will Rogers School in Ventura for nine years and led a popular school band there. "We started off with 10 or so students," Browne said. "Last year, we had 45 students."

He knows first-hand that teachers want to incorporate music into their classrooms. It can keep students engaged and gives them a connection to the school. But there hasn't always been the equipment or the time in the day to add it to the curriculum, Browne said.

After a months-long strategic planning process, Ventura Unified decided how to spend some of its nearly $1.4 million in new funding. The district formed committees that included community groups, staff members, principals, teachers and others.

Commitment from parents

"We wanted to make sure this money we received really made a difference," Asher said.

Committees focused on art, music and physical education. Teachers were surveyed on what already existed and what needed to be added. Then everyone came together to figure out what to do.

The district decided to use some of the money to purchase instruments and equipment and pay for professional development training in its K-5 schools. This year, an art specialist and two music specialists, including Browne, will travel to each of the district's 17 elementary schools to work with students and teachers.

Middle and high schools are continuing to develop plans specific to their individual campuses, and they are expected to be finalized shortly.

The Conejo Valley Unified School District, which received nearly $1.8 million, also is using some of the money to buy equipment and supplies and train teachers, which coincides with an adoption of visual arts curriculum, said Deputy Superintendent Janet Cosaro.

Over the summer, the district paid several teachers to develop lessons that provide visual arts instruction while also covering subjects such as English and science. Lessons have been developed for grades K-2, and the district is planning to expand them the through fifth grade.

In addition to the state's investment, Ventura County educators hope to keep their community partners, which have filled a gap and worked to keep art, music and other programs in local schools.

At Mira Monte in Ojai, the Parent Teacher Organization decided to front the money for the new piano lab last year after the school found out money was coming from the state.

The group now plans to forego reimbursement and use the new state money instead for more instruments and teacher training.

"We're a long way from having every kid have an instrument or access to a dance teacher," alliance chairwoman Johnson said. "We still need parent advocates and parent fundraising. We still need people to invest in the arts."