In summary

The Arts and Music in Schools mensurate will provide nearly $900 one thousand thousand to arts and music education in California public schools.

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Past Austin Beutner

Austin Beutner, old Superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School Commune, is the proponent of the Arts and Music in Schools mensurate.

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Arne Duncan, Special to CalMatters

Arne Duncan served equally U.S. Secretary of Education from 2009 to 2022 and is the sometime CEO of Chicago Public Schools.

This November, California voters may have the opportunity to amend the lives of more than than 6 million schoolhouse children past increasing funding for high-quality arts and music education in every public school in the state.

Written report after study has demonstrated the importance of arts and music education in the evolution of children and their success in school and in life. As education leaders, nosotros have seen first-hand the value of an arts educational activity.

Arts and music educational activity improves cerebral development, reasoning and language acquisition; it corresponds with higher educatee accomplishment in reading and math, and it leads to increased schoolhouse omnipresence. Participating in the arts is especially urgent at present to support students' mental wellbeing amidst the ongoing affect of COVID-xix.

Despite these articulate and demonstrated benefits for children, California is backside when it comes to providing schools with funding for arts and music education – and the irony is glaring as California is the capital letter of the world's creative economy, supporting 2.half dozen million jobs in the state. Only i in five public schools in California has a dedicated instructor for traditional arts programs similar music, dance, theater and fine art, or newer forms of creative expression like estimator graphics, blitheness, coding, costume design and filmmaking.

According to an analysis issued by California's independent Legislative Annotator's Part, the proposed Arts and Music in Schools measure would provide boosted funding to every Pre-K-12 public school in California for arts and music education without raising taxes. Schools serving low-income communities would receive even more funding, helping Black and Latino children who are nearly likely to lack admission to arts education. School funding for the arts volition increment by virtually $900 million each year and arts programs in schools will abound by more than than l%.

As pedagogy leaders, we strongly back up how the initiative requires 100% of the additional school funds to be used for arts and music education, with a focus on hiring teachers and aides. The funding tin can also help with staff training, supplies, materials and educational partnerships with arts and community organizations.

The measure includes strict accountability measures to ensure the funds are spent as intended – to directly benefit students. It prohibits schools from diverting existing funds away from arts and music teaching. Schools and school districts would be required to publish reports showing how the money was used, the specific arts programs funded and how they align with state standards.

The Arts and Music in Schools mensurate, proposed for the November 2022 ballot, has support from a various coalition of educators, artists, entrepreneurs, community organizations and civic leaders who recognize the importance of an arts education. "Arts and Music education teaches collaboration and artistic thinking that are essential in life and virtually every job," notes initiative supporter will.i.am, Grammy Honour-winning musician, producer and tech entrepreneur.

This initiative is timely as our country seeks to create a more than simply and equitable future for all children. A boost in arts and music pedagogy will help ensure the futurity workforce in media and engineering properly reflect the diversity of the children in our public schools.

"This ballot measure will help ascertain the hope of the next generation of storytellers by ensuring all California students get the high-quality arts and music education they deserve," says Issa Rae, an actress, writer and producer who supports the ballot measure. "It will especially benefit students from communities of color, who often feel a lack of admission and equity in admission to arts and music education."

Years of excuses about the lack of support for arts didactics must audio like a broken record to public school kids and their families. With the support of voters beyond California, the next generation of public school students could be making new records and telling their own stories equally they build the skills and experiences to gain jobs in the state'due south vibrant creative economy.