President Signs FY12 Funding Bill
Arts in Education
Also experiencing a tumultuous appropriations cycle, the Arts in
Education program has weathered significant challenges, and is one of
very few programs to survive multiple proposals to eliminate
subject-specific funding programs at the U.S. Department of Education.
The Arts in Education program ultimately received $24.593 million in
FY12 to administer and support competitive grants and national
initiatives at the U.S. Department of Education, a decrease from the
$27.447 million administered by the Department in FY11. FY12 funding may
offer the possibility of a new round of grant competitions in the Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination Program,
but details remain to be seen. The League will keep you updated as more
information and possible grant opportunities become available.
Thank you for your ongoing advocacy in support of the arts. The
extremely challenging federal budget climate will continue into 2012,
and your communication with Congress will be essential. Please continue
to stay tuned to League advocacy updates and alerts!
Tell Your Representative to Support Arts in Education!
Washington, D.C. - Contact Congress and ask your Representative
to protect Arts in Education when the House considers HR 1891, a bill
that would eliminate the Arts in Education program at the U.S.
Department of Education, along with 42 other federal education programs.
In the coming weeks, the U.S. House of Representatives will take up a
first attempt at re-writing part of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESEA), also known as the No Child Left Behind Act. Speak
up in defense of the Arts in Education program!
The lead sponsor of HR 1891, Education Subcommittee Chairman Duncan
Hunter (R-CA), has called the Arts in Education program “unnecessary.”
This bill, which the House Education and Workforce Committee passed
along party lines on May 25th, is even more serious a threat than the
annual federal funding measures, as HR 1891 would permanently strip the language out of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that allows the Arts in Education program to be funded each year.
The Arts in Education (AIE) program at the U.S. Department of Education
is the ONLY source of dedicated federal education funding to support
arts education, a core academic subject of learning proven to improve
schools, teaching, and student success in school, work, and life. The
unique federal leadership provided through direct competitive AIE grants
and national initiatives cannot be replaced by any other funding source
and provides essential resources to maximize the benefits of arts
education for all students. The arts have too often been shoved to the
margins when our schools need them most. Don’t let HR 1891 further
narrow the educational opportunities of our nation’s students.
Act now, and stay tuned as the League keeps you informed of further arts education policy developments.
CONTACT CONGRESS TODAY!
Act Now to Support Arts Education!
Washington, D.C. - This Wednesday May 25, the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee will vote on a bill (HR 1891) that would eliminate the Arts in Education program at the U.S. Department of Education,
along with 42 other federal education programs. The lead sponsor of
the bill, Education Subcommittee Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-CA), calls
the Arts in Education program “unnecessary.” This bill is even more
serious a threat than the annual federal funding measures, as HR 1891
would permanently strip the language out of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESEA) that allows the Arts in Education program to be
funded each year.
The Arts in Education (AIE) program at the U.S. Department of Education
is the ONLY source of dedicated federal education funding to support
arts education, a core academic subject of learning proven to improve
schools, teaching, and student success in school, work, and life. The
unique federal leadership provided through direct competitive AIE grants
and national initiatives cannot be replaced by any other funding source
and provides essential resources to maximize the benefits of arts
education for all students. The arts have too often been shoved to the
margins when our schools need them most. Don’t let HR 1891 further narrow the educational opportunities of our nation’s students.
A targeted advocacy alert was sent to constituents of the following Members of the House Education and Workforce Committee:
The FY11 Budget Deal: What Does it Mean for the Arts?
Washington, D.C. - At the eleventh hour last Friday, Congressional leaders struck an FY11 budget compromise to avoid a government shutdown, which includes $155 million for the National Endowment for the Arts and $25.5 million for the Arts in Education programs at the U.S. Department of Education. The agreement finalizes the rest of FY11 funding, and votes will take place in the House tomorrow, with Senate action to follow before week's end.
Thanks to your advocacy, Congress has restored a portion of the Arts in Education funding and protected the NEA from more drastic cuts.
Arts in Education: On March 2, 2011 both the House and Senate agreed to eliminate a number of small education programs at the U.S. Department of Education, including the complete defunding of the Arts in Education program, a $40 million fund that supports competitive grants and national initiatives. The final funding bill includes $25.5 million for the Arts in Education fund - enough to continue the next year of funding for multi-year grants currently in progress, with $10 million available for additional arts education expenditures.
In a climate of historic budget slashing, the partial restoration of Arts in Education funding is a true victory, thanks in large part to the leadership of Senators Thad Cochran (R-MS) and Tom Harkin (D-IA) and the efforts of grassroots advocates who quickly mobilized to tell their stories about the value of arts education.
Please stay tuned! As soon as the final FY11 spending levels are passed, our attention must turn to building support for arts funding in the FY12 budget process.
Latest Spending Bill Eliminates Arts in Education Funds; NEA Budget Remains in Jeopardy
Tell Congress that eliminating arts education is a budget cut we simply can't afford. Arts in Education funds at the U.S. Department of Education were eliminated today when Congress passed a short-term spending bill that will keep the federal government open as final negotiations over all FY11 funding continue. The cuts in the short-term spending bill would eliminate Arts in Education funding for the entire 2011 fiscal year if Congress does not restore the fund in future FY11 bills. Today's short-term funding package omitted a number of smaller education programs - part of a "down payment" on further overall federal funding cuts to come.
It's not too late to rescue FY11 funding for Arts in Education and the National Endowment for the Arts! Your advocacy is essential as the House and Senate now use the next two weeks to continue setting their priorities for funding the federal government for the remainder of the current fiscal year. Contact Congress today to urge the following:
USE OUR EASY E-ADVOCACY TOOL TODAY! >>
Take Action During Arts in Education Week
Washington, D.C. - Join with arts advocates throughout the country to
raise your voice during Arts in Education Week, September 12-18, 2010.
The U.S. House of Representatives has designated the second week of
September as national Arts in Education Week, beginning this year. This
is an opportunity for orchestras to step up year-round advocacy efforts
and to ask their Members of Congress to enact policy reforms that will
improve access to a complete arts education for all students.
Ask Congress to Support Arts Education
The League plays a leading role along with a broad range of national
arts and education organizations, including the Performing Arts Alliance, in seeking major
improvements for arts in education programs, research, policies, and
national data collection at the U.S. Department of Education. Together,
the arts community has written federal
legislative recommendations and a national policy statement, Arts Education: Creating Student
Success in School, Work, and Life, explaining how the arts can
improve teaching and learning. As Congress moves toward reauthorization
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and makes annual
funding decisions, it is more important than ever not only to keep arts
education as a core academic subject of learning, but to actually
implement it as one.
Contact Congress Today!
Orchestras Play Their Part At Home
The majority of key education policy decisions are made at the state and
local level. Speak up in your community during Arts in Education Week
and year-round to improve the status of arts education. More than 200
orchestras nationwide have endorsed a statement of common cause, Orchestras Support In-School Music Education, which
reflects their commitment to take individual, community-specific action
to improve access to music education in schools. View the statement and
accompanying advocacy tips and tools to help make the case for improving
access to music education for every child.
Join in
Supporting Arts Education In Our Schools
The U.S. House of Representatives has just created an annual September Arts
in Education Week, which this year will be September 12th-18th.
This is an opportunity for orchestras to amplify their ongoing national and local advocacy efforts to advance
arts education as a core academic subject in our schools. The League
will be working with our partner organizations to create visibility for
this national advocacy effort. We realize it is short notice this year,
but here are a few suggestions for how you can help in your community:
1. Check with teachers, PTA leaders, school board members, and
other school leaders to learn how your orchestra can support arts
education in your schools.
2. Seek opportunities for leaders of your orchestra (music
director, musicians, executive director, board leaders, and others) to
speak on behalf of in-school music education in the local press, at
school board meetings, and in other public settings.
3. Review (and sign onto!) the League’s statement of common cause, Orchestras Support In-School Music Education. We
will be publically promoting this statement during Arts in Education
Week – you won’t want your orchestra to be left off the list of more
than 200 orchestras that have signed on!
Thanks for helping! For more information about Arts in Education Week,
go to the Arts Education Partnership’s special site at http://www.aep-arts.org/artsineducationweek.html.
Arts in Education Grants Available at U.S. Dept. of Education
A small but important pool of funding is available at the U.S.
Department of Education to support arts education in our nation's
schools. The U.S. Department of Education's Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination Program
(AEMDD) is currently accepting applications for FY10 awards. These
highly competitive grants enable schools and organizations to integrate
standards-based arts education into elementary and middle school
curricula and improve students' academic performance. Eligible programs
must be administered in partnership with a local education agency and
can be up to four years in duration, with the first year used to plan
an imbedded evaluation process.
At least five previous AEMDD awards have supported school-based
collaborations with orchestras, including the Annapolis Symphony
Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Rockford Symphony Orchestra, Tucson
Symphony Orchestra, and the Brooklyn Philharmonic. The deadline for
Notice of Intent to Apply is February 16, 2010 and the deadline for
applications is March 16, 2010.
Learn More About USED Grants
NEA and Arts Education Funding Increase
Congress has set the FY2010 funding levels for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Arts in Education programs at the U.S. Department of Education, including increases in funding for both accounts.
Arts in Education funding at the U.S. Department of Education 
increased by $2 million for FY10. The increase in funding provides for a new competitive grant round for the Model Development and Dissemination grant program. Stay tuned for further information as the guidelines for this highly competitive application process become available.
Secretary Duncan Voices Support for Arts Education
This is the moment to make the case for arts education in your community! Your orchestra and arts advocates nationwide have some fresh talking points to leverage, courtesy of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Three sources provide valuable quotes endorsing the legitimacy of the arts as a core academic subject of learning:
letter
from Secretary Duncan to school leaders emphasizes that the arts are a
core subject of learning and that states and localities can use federal
funds to support the arts. As students in your community head back to school, gear up to advocate for music education. Check out our Music Education Advocacy Tools, read our tips for launching your advocacy effort, and make sure your orchestra has endorsed the League Statement of Common Cause in support of in-school music education!
As states and local school districts define
education priorities in this challenging economic climate, U.S.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has issued a statement emphasizing the importance of arts education for every child.
The letter can be a useful tool when communicating with local and state
policy leaders regarding funding for arts education. The statement
clearly emphasizes that, under federal law, the arts are a core
academic subject of learning, and that states and localities can use
federal funds to support arts education opportunities for all learners.
The NAMM Foundation and the SupportMusic Coalition,
of which the League is a member, will host a live discussion with
Secretary Duncan next Tuesday, moderated by Mary Luehrsen, Director of
Public Affairs and Government Relations for NAMM. Your participation is
needed to help demonstrate your concern and highlight the need for all
children to have access to the arts as part of a complete and quality
education.
Date: Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Time: 1 PM Eastern, 12 Noon Central, 11 AM Mountain, 10 AM Pacific
We encourage you to forward this invitation to your local school and community leaders and urge their participation in the call.
Registration for the conference call stream is available online now and
up to 15 minutes prior to the event. Secretary Duncan will join the
call promptly at 1 p.m. ET on August 18th.
Register for the Call Today!
Today, for the first time in more than a decade, the U.S. Department of Education announced the results of the 2008 Nation's Arts Report Card, detailing how much eighth-grade students know and are able to do in music and the visual arts. The results, officially known as the 2008 National Assessment of Educational Progress in the Arts (NAEP) reveal barriers to student achievement in the arts, with significant racial/ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic gaps. The results elicited the most direct and supportive statement from the federal government regarding arts education in recent years. In response to the results, the Secretary of Education and senior officials at the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Assessment Governing Board all called for substantially increasing access to arts learning and significantly improving the quality of national data collection on the status of arts education in the nation's schools.
Read the full article
Obama Calls for Creativity and Innovation in Education Plan
In March 10 remarks announcing his education policy plan, President Obama said, "It's time to give all Americans a complete and competitive education from the cradle up through a career." The plan emphasizes early childhood education, performance pay for teachers, local school innovation, and lifelong learning opportunities. Orchestras, as local partners in strengthening arts education in the schools, have been calling for national, state, and local policies that ensure that every student has access to a complete education - one that includes comprehensive education in the arts.
While the plan does not specify arts education proposals, President
Obama acknowledged the role that creativity will play in preparing
students for a 21st century workforce, saying "I'm calling on our
nation's governors and state education chiefs to develop standards and
assessments that don't simply measure whether students can fill in a
bubble on a test, but whether they possess 21st century skills like
problem-solving and critical thinking and entrepreneurship and
creativity." The plan also calls for doubling funding for afterschool programs
, which have often provided opportunities for orchestras and other
community organizations to partner with schools. Throughout this year,
Congress and the White House will continue to work on the multi-year
process of re-writing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (known
as No Child Left Behind).
See How You Can Weigh In
Congress Approves FY09 Increase for Arts Education
The FY09 omnibus bill included a $633,000 increase in funding for the competitive Arts in Education grant programs of the U.S. Department of Education. Despite the proposal of the past administration to eliminate Arts in Education spending, along with a number of smaller education programs, Congress acted once again to support arts education by approving $38.166 million for Arts in Education spending. A recent study released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds significant declines in arts education for minority and low-income students and calls for further research by the U.S. Department of Education to discover the status of arts education in our nation's schools.
Learn More About Arts Education Funding
House Appropriations Includes Arts Education Funding for FY09
The House Appropriations Subcommittee has approved $38.6 million for Arts Education at the U.S. Department of Education - only the second time in the past eight years that the House has included any funding for the Arts in Education programs. As with NEA funding, the most likely scenario for arts education spending is steady funding at last year's level until Congress re-considers federal funding in early 2009.
View Arts in Education Funding History
A new national poll of 1,000 likely voters finds that, "30% of American voters are not only dissatisfied with public education's narrow focus on the ‘so-called' basics but that they also believe developing the imagination is a critical, but missing, ingredient to student success in 21st century schools and moving students beyond average." The pollsters say that this voting cohort - which is being called the "Imagine Nation" - is of a scale rivaling "soccer moms." This powerful affirmation of public support for arts education can be leveraged as orchestras act to strengthen the presence of music education in the schools.
Learn More about the Imagine Nation
The Professional Development for Arts Educators Program supports the implementation of high-quality professional development model programs in K-12 education for music, dance, drama, media arts, or visual arts educators. The deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply is February 11, 2008 and the deadline for transmittal of applications is February 29, 2008.
The Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination Program is designed to enable schools and organizations to develop and disseminate comprehensive approaches for integrating the arts into elementary and middle school curricula, strengthening arts instruction in these grade levels, and improving students’ academic performance. The deadline for Notice of Intent to Apply is February 13, 2008 and the deadline for transmittal of applications is March 14, 2008.
Learn More about U.S. Department of Education funding opportunities
What is the status of arts education in our nation’s schools? After
nearly 10 years without comprehensive national data, Congress has
approved more than $2 million in funding to support a fast-response
arts education survey in the 08-09 school year. Orchestras and other
arts advocates rallied behind this request for data collection.
Congress also approved near-level funding for the competitive Arts in Education grant programs
of the U.S. Department of Education, following an across-the-board cut
to all of the Department's programs. Despite the President’s proposal
to eliminate Arts in Education spending, along with a number of smaller
education programs, Congress acted to approve a total of $37.5 million
in Arts in Education spending for FY08.
Potential historic increases in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and Arts Education are in jeopardy as Congress and the White House face off over total spending for the current fiscal year. On November 13, the President vetoed the Labor-HHS-Education funding bill, which included unprecedented support for arts education funding and would have fully funded long-awaited research on the status of arts education in our nation's schools. Only one of the 12 federal FY08 spending measures - the Defense bill - has been signed into law. Congress may craft a catch-all spending bill in December, but holding on to the gains in arts funding will be tough as Washington policymakers whittle away at all proposed increases in domestic spending.
See the Progress on Arts Education 31.86 Kb
While the most important advocacy for arts education in our schools often happens at the local and state levels, improving the federal education laws can open the door to improved policies nationwide. As Congress begins to re-consider the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and writes the newest version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the arts community is calling for specific improvements to the law that determines how the federal government supports education. The League, in partnership with more than 20 national arts and education organizations, is calling on Congress to improve access to arts education for all students by enacting specific legislative recommendations. The process of re-considering NCLB will be a multi-year effort. Stay tuned for targeted opportunities to weigh in with your members of Congress.
See How Congress Can Boost Arts Learning
A letter to House Appropriations Chairman David Obey was signed by 71 members of Congress urging support for increased Arts in Education funding.