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!

Campaign launched to promote arts education in L.A. Unified

Donors and school officials Monday launched a multimillion-dollar public awareness campaign to promote arts instruction in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The unveiling of a “bus wrap,” designed by a local artist, prompted cheers and unleashed a massive student dance number in front of the Torres High School Academies in East Los Angeles. But the prospects for arts in the nation’s second-largest school system are mixed — such programs, like others, have suffered from waves of budget cuts.

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

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.

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.