Los Angeles Schools Welcome Back The Arts
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Los Angeles Schools Reinvigorate Arts Education
Los Angeles Schools are experiencing a renaissance in arts education, thanks to a long-term initiative and recent state funding boosts. Launched in 2002, the Arts for All program was designed as a decade-long effort to reintroduce arts education across 80 districts in Los Angeles. This initiative is dedicated to enriching K-12 students’ experiences with music, dance, drama, and visual arts. For the 2007-2008 school year, nine additional schools have joined, increasing the total to 27 participating schools.
Two notable new additions are the Lancaster and Palmdale districts, which had previously cut elementary music programs due to budget constraints and pressures to meet state testing benchmarks. Such financial challenges began with Proposition 13 in 1978, a California mandate that reduced property taxes and, consequently, district budgets. This forced Los Angeles Schools to significantly cut back on arts and physical education classes.
The state provided a welcome boost in June with $500 million earmarked for art, music, and physical education, which Los Angeles Schools will utilize primarily for the Arts for All program. This program follows a proven five-step framework that, while effective, requires substantial funding. The steps include:
1. Allocating 5% of a district’s budget to arts education.
2. Adopting a board-approved policy.
3. Creating a detailed implementation plan with timelines.
4. Appointing a district-level arts coordinator.
5. Maintaining a student-to-arts-teacher ratio of 400:1.
To support this initiative, Los Angeles Schools will hire a program expert to assist parents, staff, and community members in crafting their implementation plans. Additionally, the Lancaster district has received a supplementary grant of $260,000 for its arts and music programs.
Educators across Los Angeles Schools enthusiastically welcome the increased funding, viewing it as a critical and overdue investment. Many believe that the absence of arts education has been detrimental to student development. Although previous cuts redirected funds toward academic subjects essential for state tests, teachers argue that arts education enhances learning by fostering connections between subjects and providing essential balance in education.
Urban districts like Los Angeles are striving to meet the 2014 No Child Left Behind mandate, which demands student proficiency in state tests regardless of developmental or language challenges. The shift of funding away from the arts has led to a scenario where even young students are missing out on recess, physical activity, and foundational arts education, in a desperate effort to achieve rising national standards.
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