Help Gain Access to Title I Funds for Local Music Education Programs

In a July 2004 letter from U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige to school superintendents, Secretary Paige articulates that Title I funds can and should, in fact, be used to strengthen music and other arts in education programs across the country. In his letter, Secretary Paige states clearly, "Under NCLB, Title I, Part A funds also can be used by local education agencies to improve the educational achievement of disadvantaged students through the arts." The full text of Secretary Paige's letter can be accessed by clicking here.  Keeping in mind the U.S. Department of Education's recent FY 2007 Title I school district allocations, arts education advocates nationwide are encouraged to attempt to leverage such funds for use in strengthening local arts education programs by writing and calling local education and political leaders to share Secretary Paige's comments in light of the new district allocations.

Stanford Commencement Address, 2007

Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, delivered the Commencement address June 17, 2007 to Stanford graduates. His address is a tribute to arts education and more. In his address he challenges the graduates to  "Trade easy pleasures for more complex and challenging ones." He also states that "The real purpose of arts education is to create complete human beings capable of leading successful and productive lives in a free society."

Photo: L.A. Cicero

The prepared text of his speech can be found here.

An appeal from MENC

May 23, 2006
Take Action on No Child Left Behind

Your help is urgently needed to inform Congress about No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the importance of the arts in every child's education. Your action today will help to ensure the place of the arts in your schools tomorrow.

The Commission on No Child Left Behind is accepting comments through an online portal on their Web site. This bipartisan commission will make formal recommendations to Congress in early 2007. As such, this is a key opportunity for teachers, parents, and community members to offer constructive feedback on the importance of the arts in any kind of education legislation, and specifically NCLB.

To read further and take action, please click here.

April 2, 2006, New York Times letter to the Editor

“Schools Need the Arts” by Mike Huckabee,  Governor of Arkansas and chairman of both the Education Commission of the States and the National Governors Association”

Across the nation, schools are trimming back financing for music and the arts in the name of "efficiency" and "core subjects." This is beyond short-sighted. It's stupid. In the name of No Child Left Behind, we are going to leave some of our brightest students totally behind by never touching their talents to sing, paint, act, dance or play an instrument. While experts and futurists warn that the future economy will be driven by the "creative class," there are determined efforts to diminish the value of the arts. Numerous studies affirm that a student schooled in music improves his or her SAT and ACT scores in math, foreign language or creative writing.

Creative students are better problem solvers; that is a trait the business world begs for in its work force. While the No Child Left Behind standards mandate arts as part of the core curriculum (which is an admirable first at the federal level), many school districts see the arts as expendable, extraneous or extracurricular. They are essential.

Nine out of 10 parents surveyed opposed cuts to the arts in our schools, yet many policy makers seem tone-deaf to this critical part of educating our children. In my state, we by law now insist that every child receive music and art instruction by a certified teacher. It's time that America force the issue and finance it fully. No child should be left behind!

Mike Huckabee,
Little Rock, Ark.

Read excerpts of Governor Huckabee's general session speech at the Chicago convention of the National Art Education Association here.
 

Dont know much about the arts in your community?
 
Dont know much about the arts programs in your school district?
 
Want to know more?

                              Want to discover your strengths...and identify what's missing?

The Mississippi Alliance for Arts Education can help!

For information about A Community Audit for Arts Education, click here.

May 23, 2005

The Footprints and the Giant

The Value of the Arts to Communities
a speech to the Rotary Club of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, May 23, 2005
by Andrew Taylor

Source:
http://www.artsjournal.com/artfulmanager/thoughtbucket/000776.php

Governors, State Education Policymakers
 Urged to Embrace Arts Education
 

On Wednesday, October 6, 2004, Education Commission of the States Chairman, Governor Mike Huckabee (R-AR), sent a letter to all Governors and state education policy makers strongly urging them to bring arts education to the center of the Education Debate.

"The message that my ECS initiative can and must deliver to policymakers across the country is that the arts are as crucial to a student's development as any other subject taught in our schools today. We must do all we can to mobilize, inform, educate and inspire education leaders to recognize the vast potential returns that can be realized by investing now in arts education." - Governor Mike Huckabee

To read Governor Huckabee's complete letter, in pdf form click here.

The complete letter and related documents and links may be found at: http://music-for-all.org/ecs1005.html

Source: Education Commission of the States/Music for All Foundation

SECRETARY OF EDUCATION ROD PAIGE URGES SUPERINTENDENTS
 NOT TO LEAVE THE ARTS BEHIND

U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige has sent a letter to all 16,000 public school superintendents emphasizing the importance of arts education. The letter acknowledges that many arts programs are being diminished or eliminated. Paige argues that the fault lies not with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), but rather with its interpretation by school officials and others. He points out that the arts are a core academic subject under NCLB and that schools may use federal block grant funds-in such categories as professional development, comprehensive school reform, or after-school or innovative programs, among others-for arts education activities. Source: Americans for the Arts

To read the letter from the Secretary of Education and view resources click here.

At the Education Commission of the States 2004 National Forum on Education Policy, Arkansas governor and incoming chair Mike Huckabee said that said an arts-rich education is essential to producing creative thinkers, and he called on all states to pass legislation requiring opportunities for every child to participate in the arts. Huckabee has chosen arts education as the focus of his two-year term as chair.

More Information:  Education Commission of the States

MAAE named grant recipient

The Mississippi Alliance for Arts Education has been named one of five recipients of a Take Part! grant award from the Mississippi Arts Commission, receiving full funding of $30,000. 

The Take Part! initiative is designed to increase participation and community involvement in the arts. The Alliance's project has three components:

• Conducting "A Community Audit for Arts Education" in five communities around the state

• Surveying the status of arts education in Mississippi's K-12 schools

• Hosting a public television broadcast or a teleconference to publicize findings of the audit and the survey.

The five community agencies which have signed on as partners in the audit process are: Cleveland School District, Meridian School District, Oxford Arts Council, Picayune School District, and Stone County Arts Council. These communities reflect geographic, economic, and human diversity in our state.

Althea Jerome, Dr. Charlotte Tabereaux, Kathryn Lewis and Lola Norris will serve as the project team which will work with the communities, analyze data and report on survey findings.

Administration's 2005 Budget for Federal Cultural Agencies

Washington, D.C. - February 2, 2004 -

President Bush released his Administration's FY2005 budget with a recommended total increase of $55 million to the nation's cultural agencies-the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. This budget marks the first time that the Bush Administration has proposed a substantial increase for all three federal agencies in the same fiscal year. Upon reading the budget, Americans for the Arts President and CEO Robert L. Lynch said, "The arts and cultural community have much to be encouraged about with the release of the Administration's budget today. We are pleased that President Bush has recognized the value of our nation's cultural agencies by recommending a total of $55 million for new grants, special initiatives, and programs.  If approved by Congress, the NEA's budget would increase by $18 million, for a total of $139 million."

Approved Increase FY05 Funding
NEA $121 mil. $18 mil. $139 million
NEH $135 mil. $27 mil. $162 milillion
OMS (IMLS) $31 mil. $10 mil. $41 million

Source: Americans for the Arts

Read what Yo-yo Ma had to say in American Innovators,
 Page 143, Reader's Digest, August 2002