What We Are Asking Right Now | Recent Activity | What You Can Do

What is At Stake

The U.S. Department of Education Arts in Education program provides federal support to performing arts organizations for the development, evaluation and dissemination of model programs that integrate arts instruction into other subject areas. The 2001 No Child Left Behind Act (the bill that determines how the U.S. Department of Education supports our schools, students and communities) recognizes the arts as a core academic subject, making them eligible for inclusion in broad categories such as teacher training, school reform and technology. Despite overwhelming support for arts education, school systems are focusing largely on reading and math at the expense of arts education and other core subjects of learning. To strengthen arts as a core academic subject, PAA works with Congress to preserve Arts in Education funding.

What We Are Asking Right Now

We urge Congress to:

Support Arts Education funding and research through the Department of Education

Appropriate $53 million for the Arts in Education programs in the FY 2009 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill.
Require the U.S. Department of Education to produce timely and comprehensive reports on the status of arts education in America’s public schools, when implementing the Fast Response Statistical Survey and the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Strengthen Arts Education in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)

Retain the arts in the definition of core academic subjects of learning
Reauthorize the Arts in Education Programs of the U.S. Department of Education
Improve national data collection and research in arts education
Require states to annually report on student access to all core academic subjects
Conduct dedicated hearings on arts education related to reauthorization of NCLB.

What You Can Do

Did you know that federal funding makes up only 10% of all national expenditures on education? That means that the remaining 90% of funding - and the vast majority of policy - comes from state, local, and private sources. While the Performing Arts Alliance keeps you up-to-date on federal advocacy opportunities, remember that your advocacy at the state and local levels will make the critical difference in increasing support for arts education in your community. The most important education policy decisions are made at the local level, in your community, by your state legislators and school boards. The best advocate for arts education is not the full-time lobbyist in Washington or the state capitol - it's you: the volunteer, the trustee, the artist, the staff member, the audience. Click here to get more arts education tools and resources.

Recent Activity

President’s FY 2011 Budget Request for the Department of Education

February 1, 2010

President Obama released his FY 2011 budget request, which serves as a starting point for the Congressional Appropriations process. The President's budget proposal consolidates a number of programs including the Arts in Education programs, into a new funding category called Effective Teaching and Learning for a Well-Rounded Education. The total proposed funding for this program is $265 million, and the amount that would be available to support arts education is uncertain. Congress approved $40 million for the Arts in Education programs in FY 2010. Please visit the Arts in Education Programs page at the Department of Education for a summary of the programs.

Arts Education Unified Statement

March 1, 2010
As part of an on-going strategy to communicate the benefits of arts education to policymakers, the national arts education advocacy community developed a unified statement, Arts Education: Creating Student Success in School, Work, and Life. The statement is an advocacy tool for communicating the benefits of arts education to policymakers at all levels as federal lawmakers begin the process of reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The re-authorization process will be a multi-year effort and has already begun with public and private hearings and town-hall meetings. The messages outlined in Arts Education: Creating Student Success in School, Work, and Life also provides talking points for individuals and organizations weighing in during these early days of the reauthorization debate.

If you represent a national organization that wishes to be added to the list of organizations in support of the unified statement, please contact Heather Noonan at the League of American Orchestras, hnoonan@americanorchestras.org.