Budget Cuts Affect Arts Education in Schools

In recent years, many school districts have had to make the difficult choice to eliminate art programs (drama, music, visual arts, photography, etc.) due to budget cuts and based upon state/national academic priorities that are more focused on math and English student achievement. The budget crisis came against the backdrop of the decade-long emphasis on math and reading as mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind law and other state initiatives and acts. For instance, in Los Angeles Unified School District, one-third of the district’s 345 arts teachers were let go between 2008 and 2012, and the arts offerings for half of K-5 students were reduced to zero. Sadly, the lack of art education programs at the elementary level is still the norm.

The decline of arts education also has raised equity and access issues because budget cuts have fallen along economic lines. For instance, independent, private, and other schools with access to private or additional resources have generally been able to withstand budget cuts by raising private dollars to subsidize those funds. The decline of arts education has been felt most severely in low-performing, low-income schools. The message is simple: instead of treating the arts as separate from other classroom endeavors, it’s time to embrace the value of integration of music, painting, dancing, drawing, and singing into traditional subjects like science, math, and language.

Groups championing arts education are criticizing President Donald Trump’s proposed cuts to education and the arts, particularly those targeting programs promoting diversity. The Trump budget proposal would kill the National Endowment for the Arts, which has already canceled more than $27 million in grants, including many for arts education. Veronica Alvarez, executive director of the Pasadena-based nonprofit Create CA, said arts education funding should be preserved.

“The ‘four C’s’ of 21st-century job skills: critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity, all of those skills are developed and supported by the arts,” Alvarez pointed out. “Unfortunately, usually when there’s constraint on the budget in terms of education, the arts have often been the first ones cut.”
The National Endowment for the Arts’ fiscal report said last year, the agency had a budget of $207 million and gave out grants totaling $163 million. The President has called for the Department of Education to be abolished and his budget proposal specifically eliminates programs to help migrant students and English language learners, complaining they promote bilingualism and alleging they attract undocumented people to come to the U.S.

Alvarez pointed out arts education is a great way for students to improve their English comprehension. “It keeps them engaged. Research has shown that students who have access to high-quality arts education have higher attendance and graduation rates,” Alvarez noted. “In particular, when language is a barrier, the arts transcend language. The arts help English learners and migrant students by providing a sense of belonging.”

Allison Green
Boston Tutoring Services