Dr. Jane Chu Confirmed as Chair of "the other" NEA

WASHINGTON - Today the U.S. Senate confirmed Dr. Jane Chu as chair of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Chu is currently the president and CEO of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City, Mo. She fills a chair position left vacant at the NEA since Rocco Landesman stepped down in 2012.

“Today’s confirmation of Dr. Jane Chu is great news for not only the National Endowment for the Arts, but also for the arts in our country,” said Robert Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts. “Dr. Chu brings an insightful combination of expertise to the position—experience in arts education, business administration, and philanthropy. She also understands the value of art at the community level and how the arts are transformative to individuals as well as places.”

Before joining the Kauffman Center in 2006, Chu served as fund executive at the Kauffman Fund for Kansas City, vice president of external relations for the Union Station Kansas City, and vice president of community investment for the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation. She holds degrees in visual arts, piano performance and piano pedagogy, an MBA, and a Ph.D. in philanthropic studies. Nonprofit Connect in Kansas City recently named her their Nonprofit Professional of the Year.

NEA FAC Vice-Chair Jessica Fitzwater Completes Training, Considers Political Bid

Jessica Fitzwater was part of the first classof Emerge 

Maryland, a program that trains Democratic women to 

run for office.

by Bethany Rodgers News-Post Staff
from the Fredrick News Post

Jessica Fitzwater says she loves working with students while they're too young to care what people think.

The Oakdale Elementary School music teacher said the onset of adult self-consciousness discourages many people from putting themselves out onstage. But when children are little, they are risk-takers, she said.

If teachers can "catch them when they sing their heart out or dance their heart out," there's a chance that they will hang on to that fearlessness as they grow up, she said.

Fitzwater, 29, said her experience as a performer — playing the violin in the Frederick Symphony Orchestra and taking the stage with Equinox Dance Company — has made her someone unafraid to take a public stand.

Her willingness to step forward could move her from the orchestra hall to Winchester Hall; Fitzwater says she's "strongly considering" running for the District 4 seat on the county council in 2014.

Fitzwater has already started laying the foundation for a future in the public eye. Earlier this year, she graduated from the first class of Emerge Maryland, a program that prepares Democratic women to hold elected office or another leadership position.

Arts Funding Alert--Act Now!

40! That’s how many years that federal support for the arts and humanities would be set back as a result of the devastating cuts in the FY 2014 Interior Appropriations bill currently moving through the House.

This FY 2014 funding bill would cut the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities by 49 percent, leaving them each with only a $75 million budget. This budget reduction would represent the biggest cut in the history of these agencies, even worse than the cuts experienced during the Culture Wars of the 1990s. The last time the NEA’s budget was this low was in 1974.

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Last week, we reported the cuts made in Subcommittee and this week, the House Full Appropriations Committee maintained the cuts in the bill. Yesterday, Ranking Democrat of the Committee Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Rep. David Price (D-NC) offered an amendment in committee to restore the NEA cuts, but it was rejected along party line votes.

House Disproportionately Cuts National Endowment for the Arts Funding by 49%

YOUR VOICE MIGHT MAKE THE DIFFERENCE.

Today, the U.S House of Representatives Interior Appropriations Subcommittee approved its initial FY 2014 funding legislation, which includes a proposed cut of $71 million to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). This would bring funding of the NEA down to $75 million, a level not seen since 1974!

Please take two minutes to send a customizable message to your members of Congress rejecting these dramatic cuts to NEA funding.

While the subcommittee bill includes a 20 percent reduction in total spending as a part of the House budget plan, the proposed cuts of 49 percent to the NEA are significantly disproportionate. The arts community recognizes the challenges our elected leaders face in prioritizing federal resources, but funding for the NEA has already been cut by more than $29 million over the past three years. These disproportionate cuts recall the dramatic decline of federal funding for the arts in the early 90s, from which the agency has still not recovered.

In her statement during today’s markup, senior appropriator Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) said these cuts “harken back to a time when a misguided war on the arts and culture ignored the educational and cultural benefits they provide our communities.”

	Final FY 2013 (includes 5% sequester cut)	FY 2014 President's Request	FY 2014 House Subcommittee Proposal
National Endowment for the Arts	$138.4 million	$154.466 million	$75 million
National Endowment for the Humanities	$138.4 million	$154.466 million	$75 million

Sequestration and the Arts

As you have no doubt been following in the headlines, specific parts of the federal budget, including that of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), will be impacted by a budgetary control called “sequestration” beginning today. This sequester, totaling $85 billion, will reduce funding to almost all areas of domestic social programs by about 5 percent, which would mean about $7.3 million at the NEA.

This cut has been expected ever since the congressional “supercommittee” of 2011 failed to find agreement on how to achieve $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years, either through spending cuts, raising revenue, or by a combination of both. Since the possibility of the sequester was triggered, the White House’s Office of Management & Budget has alerted impacted federal agencies to prepare for it by withholding grant competitions, utilizing employee furloughs, reduced service and other budget cutting actions.

Because the sequester is an “across-the-board” cut to federal agencies, it reaches indiscriminately into every identified program and activity. The NEA, the U.S. Department of Education (which administers the federal Arts in Education program) and many other cultural agencies such as the Smithsonian, Institute of Museum and Library Services, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and others will be forced to order these cuts by 11:59 p.m. ET.

This is just another step in a series of spending showdowns. Looking ahead to the rest of the month, Congress will need to address the unfinished business of FY 2013 which is set to expire on March 27. As details about implementation of these cuts or alternatives to reduce the sequester’s impact on future budget negotiations become available, we will be sure to share this information.This year, the annual National Arts Advocacy Day on Tuesday, April 9 will take place during this critical timeframe. It is imperative that arts supporters participate in this event which will be the largest arts advocacy convening of the year. Register now to ensure that your voice will be heard on Capitol Hill!

Arts as Antidote for Academic Ills

 

Stationed in front of one of his large self-portraits, the
artist Chuck Close raised his customized wheelchair to balance
on two wheels, seeming to defy the laws of gravity.

By PATRICIA COHENPublished: December 18, 2012
NEW YORK TIMES

The chair’s unlikely gymnastics underlined the points that Mr. Close was making to his audience, 40 seventh and eighth graders from Bridgeport, Conn.: Break the rules and use limitations to your advantage.

The message had particular resonance for these students, and a few educators and parents, who had come by bus on Monday from Roosevelt School to the Pace Gallery in Chelsea for a private tour of Mr. Close’s show. Roosevelt, located in a community with high unemployment and crushing poverty, recently had one of the worst records of any school in the state, with 80 percent of its seventh graders testing below grade level in reading and math.

Help US Advocate for the National Endowment for the Arts

Tell Legislators that the Arts Mean Jobs & a Strong Economy!

The other NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) funds grants to dance, design, folk & traditional arts, literature, local arts agencies, media arts, multidisciplinary, museums, music, musical theater, opera, presenting, theater, and visual arts.  MANY OF THESE ARTISTS WORK IN OUR SCHOOLS.  Please take a few minutes to write to your Members of Congress to urge them to support the National Endowment for the Arts in widening citizen access to the cultural, educational, and economic benefits of the arts, and advancing creativity and innovation in communities across the United States.  If you've ever used CAP WIZ in writing your legislator through the Association, you know how easy it is.  The ARTS ACTION FUND of AMERICAN FOR THE ARTS (Let me encourage you to join), uses this as well and will allow you to paste pieces of pre-written messages AND add your own original words.

To learn more about the programs of the National Endowment for the Arts and to see the Americans for the Arts Position/Policy paper on the National Endowment for the Arts, click here.  Please download, save and share this piece.  Please take five or ten minutes to do this. 

High-Poverty Schools Awarded $1.2 Million in Arts Grants Awarded to Train Educators

July 31, 2012, published on the NEA FAC Website August 8, 2012

The U.S. Department of Education today announced the award of more than $1.2 million in grants to school districts in California, Florida, Nevada and New York to train arts educators serving high-poverty schools.

Under the Arts in Education-Professional Development for Arts Educators program, the funds will support high-quality model training programs in elementary and secondary education for music, dance, drama, media arts, or visual arts. The grants are especially targeted at schools with students from low-income backgrounds.

"Creating by doing is a uniquely powerful way to learn. That's why I think a high-quality arts education is absolutely critical to providing all students with a world-class education,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “The study of the arts can both significantly boost student achievement and give students a reason to look forward to coming to school. All children should have arts-rich schools."

Public schools' 'pay to play' fees: By the numbers

In the face of budget cuts and rising costs, public schools across the country are making ends meet by nickel-and-diming students

In some financially struggling school districts, students have to pay fees to participate in extracurricular activities... or not participate at all.
                       

Public schools are supposed to be free. But faced with budget cuts, rising staff costs, and declining tax revenues, many are instituting "pay to play" fees, charging students extra for everything from electives to after-school sports — and even some required classes, like French and basic sciences. Here, a brief guide, by the numbers, to these "controversial" fees:

$18
Course supplies fee for students taking English 9 at Dakota Ridge High School in Littleton, Colo.

$38
Fee for students taking Honors English 9

$75
Course supplies fee for students taking French IV at Lakota Local Schools in Liberty Township, Ohio

Lawsuit, bill aim to keep K-12 education free in California

Legislation and an ACLU lawsuit tackle the increasing use of fees at public schools, a trend that is unfair to low-income students and increases disparities.

SACRAMENTO — Not every proposed law is historic or sweeping. Some merely are pretty good ideas — perhaps even important for a low-income kid.

One such bill is among the hundreds awaiting action as the Legislature heads into its final month. The measure's goal is to stop schools from socking students with illegal fees.
Fees for sports and field trips and textbooks and art, for example.

They're being charged despite a guarantee in the California Constitution of a free K-12 education.

Beware! Sneaky Reformer Trick in L.A.

July 30, 2012--posted on the NEA FAC blog August 6, 2012 

On August 14, there will be a benefit concert in Los Angeles to “honor” teachers.

The concert is a promotion for a new “Superman”-style film that vilifies public schools and promotes privatization.

The film celebrates the “parent trigger” law, which gives parents the power to seize control of their school, fire the staff, and turn it over to a charter chain. The parent trigger was promoted by charter advocates and billionaire foundations Broad, Gates, and Walton.

Strange way to “honor” teachers–by firing them and giving the school to a non-union private entity to manage, which may hire only young teachers willing to work a 50-60 hour week at low wages. More “honors” like this and there won’t be a teaching profession in America, just teaching temps.
The concert is sponsored by Walmart (the Walton family) and Walden Media. The Walton Family Foundation gave out $159 million last year for charters and vouchers.

Standardized Testing in the Arts. No. Please No.

by Nancy Flanagan from EDUCATION WEEK on June 19, 2012 4:26 PM

When it comes to assessing music students, and their learning, I can say with confidence that I am a bona fide expert.

I did this work for thirty years--by my count, evaluating well over 5000 music students, giving them grades and feedback. Which only means I had lots of practice--not necessarily proficiency--but depth of experience matters here. Over three decades, I developed and continuously adjusted a conceptual framework for evaluating the most important skills and knowledge of student musicians, using (and often rejecting) multiple models and metrics. I did it wrong before I did it right. Once I understood that I finally had it right, I kept fine-tuning.

N.C. to Require Arts Integration in Teacher-Prep Programs

by Erik Robelen on July 27, 2012 10:33 AM

Efforts to promote integration of the arts across the curriculum got a boost in North Carolina last month, when Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue signed legislation stipulating that those studying to become elementary teachers get some grounding in the concept.

The measure, contained in a broader education bill, says elementary education programs "shall ensure" that teacher candidates "are prepared to integrate arts education across the curriculum."

Arts integration is nothing new, but it does seem to be building some momentum lately. For example, I recently wrote an EdWeek story about initiatives to promote adding an "A" for the arts into the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) acronym, so that the arts are infused across the disciplines.

NCLB vs. ARTS Education

Although we've used the cartoon on our site in the past, as a new year starts it's
worth a new life and a new look.  Let's pass this on to our colleagues as the
reauthorization discussions continue.

The Arts Gap in America

by John Wilson, April 10, 2012

We have a major arts equity issue in this country. And, we have a major denial issue about the power of the arts in driving student achievement. Who gets hurt? Of course, as always, the poor children of America are the have-nots. The facts don't lie.

Recently, Education Secretary Arne Duncan spoke eloquently about this issue. He called for all schools to be "arts-rich." He lamented that the arts opportunity gap is widest for children in high poverty schools. He said, " Low-income students who had arts-rich experiences in high schools were more than three times as likely to earn a B.A. degree as low income students without those experiences." Ignoring the research on this issue is malpractice.

“I see little of more importance to the future of our country and our civilization than full recognition of the place of the artist.” JFK

Posted by Raymond Tymas-Jones On May - 1 - 2012

National Arts Advocacy Day is significant because it grants us an opportunity to gather as a community to reflect on the role of contemporary artists in the 21st century. No matter what the chosen art form, the passion to do art and to be art is born out of an insatiable yearning to make beauty, to make sense, and even to make waves.

As artists, we are summoned to bear witness of the truth of the human experience…the human condition and truth is more than simply facts. It is realness of life that is imbued with the psychological, emotional, spiritual elements of living that is not always easily accessible. It is this sense of urgency to communicate that artists find avenues to connect through music, theatre, film, dance, art, and literature.

Arts Advocacy Day 2012

The 25th annual Arts Advocacy Day brought together a broad cross section of America’s cultural and civic organizations, along with more than 500 grassroots advocates from 40 states across the country, to underscore the importance of developing strong public policies and appropriating increased public funding for the arts. View highlights from Arts Advocacy Day 2012 below.



Alec Baldwin delivered the 25th Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy, a leading national forum for arts policy, intended to stimulate discussion of policy and social issues affecting the arts. The lecture provides an opportunity for public discourse at the highest levels on the importance of the arts and culture to our nation's well-being.

Mr. Baldwin was introduced by Maureen Dowd, Pulitzer prize winning journalist, and preceded by a
musical performance by noted singer-songwriter Ben Folds, accompanied by YoungArts alumni musicians. Bob Lynch, Americans for the Arts' President and CEO, Ken Solomon, Chairman of Ovation and Hill Harper, the 2012 Co-Chair of National Arts Advocacy Day, also gave brief remarks.

2012 Nancy Hanks Lecture - Alec Baldwin from Americans for the Arts on Vimeo.

TO VIEW ALL VIDEOS, PRESS RELEASES AND MORE VISIT
http://www.artsusa.org/events/2012/aad/default.asp

ED Releases New Report on Arts Education in U.S. Public Schools

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Cameron Brenchley

On Monday, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), part of the U.S. Department of Education, released the findings of the first nationwide arts survey in a decade that comprehensively documents the state of arts education in U.S. public schools.

At the announcement, Secretary Arne Duncan pointed to the importance of the report because it allows us to compare changes in arts education over time, and it’s the first survey that enables us to get a clear sense of how the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law has affected arts education.
“It’s a good news, bad news story,” according to Secretary Duncan. On the one hand, there have not been significant national declines in the availability of music and visual arts instruction in elementary and secondary schools. However, for theater and dance in elementary schools, the percentages of schools making these art forms available went from 20 percent 10 years ago to only 4 and 3 percent, respectively, in the 2009-10 school year. In addition, at more than 40 percent of secondary schools, coursework in arts was not required for graduation in the 2009-10 school year.

The President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities

In case you missed this--In celebration of National Arts and Humanities Month, visual artist Chuck Close, ballet dancer Damian Woetzel, and committee co-chairs Margo Lion and George Stevens, Jr. discuss arts and humanities education and the arts. October 19, 2010.