In honor of March, which is Arts Education Month:

The California Alliance for Arts Education has a full time job. Their job is to make sure that every student in the state of California receives an education in all of the visual and performing arts. Through the work of a lobbyist, staff and board of directors, their efforts have resulted in an arts education budget for K-12 schools in the amount of over $100 million for the past three years.

Our state budget is in a crisis and our work continues to be even more important at this time. Below is a ten-item list of things that every parent, teacher and concerned citizen should know in this current delicate climate.

1.  GOOD NEWS! Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law in 2006 and 2007 the largest investment in arts education programs in the history of our country. These funds are currently being used throughout the state.

 

2.  BAD NEWS! More support is needed for arts education to make up for alarming disappearance of the arts in California schools over the last thirty years. Student enrollment in music education declined an embarrassing 47% from 1999 to 2004.

 

3.  THE RESEARCH IS IN! An education in the arts promotes basic academic skills. Perhaps more importantly, it develops well-rounded students who think and express themselves clearly and are able to solve complex problems.

 

4.  TOOLS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY WORKFORCE!  A quality education in the arts gives the new workforce the skills needed to communicate, adapt and work effectively with others.

 

5.  WE ALL AGREE!  93% of Americans consider the arts to be an important part of a well-rounded education, according to a recent Harris Poll.

 

6.  OH, THOSE STANDARDIZED TESTS!  They have resulted in a 22% reduction of time spent on the arts and narrowed the focus of school curricula.

 

7.  ART - IT'S THE LAW!  Our State Education Code mandates arts education for grades 1 12 in dance, music, theater and visual arts; however, the code does not require schools to follow the content standards, so implementation is at the discretion of the districts.

 

8.  ART - NOT JUST FOR THE RICH!  Many parents who value arts programs fund them privately, but your child's access to an arts education should not be depend on where you live.

 

9.  A SAFE INVESTMENT? Our districts will not invest in arts programs and teachers until they are confident that the funding is ongoing. This is why we need to secure funding for sequential, standards-based arts education for all children in grades K-12.

 

10.  DO YOUR HOMEWORK! Find out how the new funding is being spent in your district.

 

Number five above indicates that 93% of you who are reading this believe that the arts are as important as science, math and language. The arts are used to teach all of the other core subjects: every time we see a film, draw a picture or sing our ABC's. Imagine a classroom without the arts no color, no music, no construction paper cut outs of Lincoln, no papier-mâché volcanoes!

Stephanie Angelini is the immediate past chair of the California Alliance for Arts Education, currently chairs the Thousand Oaks Arts Commission and is Director of Education for the Santa Barbara Center for the Performing Arts.