Arts Ed E-News from National Arts & Learning Collaborative

Massachusetts Commissioner of Education

Boston Globe, January 2008
The state Board of Education has picked Mitchell Dan Chester, a top school official in the state of Ohio, as the new state education commissioner... Troubled public schools, he said, could learn from both successful charter schools and regular public schools... He called for extending the year in underperforming, high-poverty schools and attracting top-notch teachers to these schools by paying them more. Read more.

AEP Announces "New Poll Reveals Stifling Imagination in Schools..."
Arts Education Partnership, January 2008
Results from a national poll were released by Lake Research Partners. Among the key findings:

89% say that using the imagination is essential to success in the 21st Century.
69% believe that America devotes less attention [than other nations] to developing the imagination and innovation.
88% indicated that education in and through the arts is essential to cultivating the imagination.
63% believe that building the imagination is just as important as the basics.
56% of voters would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supports more funding to help students develop their imagination. Read more about the poll. Read about AEP's response.

School Music Program Reaching a Crescendo
Boston Globe, January 2008
"We're going to start a cut-note rhythm from Ghana. Everyone knows this," Rick Saunders told his world percussion class last month. ... Between pieces, Saunders dispensed information about drum making, the slave trade, and the differences between US and Cuban slave culture. ... Where did this class take place? Not Newton, Arlington, or Brookline. Where other cities have cut school arts funding, Somerville has funneled money into music since Saunders became K-12 music education supervisor last year. Read more.

Making Room for the Arts
Education Week, October 2007
Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, over forty percent of school districts nationwide have directed funding or class time away from the arts and other subjects in order to increase their focus on reading and mathematics, according to a report from the Center on Education Policy.

Arts Education Funding
Akron Beacon Journal (OH), January 2008
"Before Congress left on its holiday break, it approved an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2008 providing for about $474 billion in domestic spending programs, including much-needed increases for most of the nation's federally funded arts and culture programs." Funding went from $124.4 million to $144.7 million for the National Endowment for the Arts; ...from $35.3 million to $37.53 million for Arts Education at the U.S. Department of Education. Read more.

TCG Bulletin, January 2008
"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. . . 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." Read more.