Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Report fears art program funds getting lost in money crunch
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: In a year in which state education funding is perhaps tighter than ever, arts supporters want the state and school districts to ensure that all students pre-kindergarten through 12th grade have access to arts programs. The Arts and Education Initiative of the Harrisburg-based Education Policy and Leadership Center Wednesday issued a report making recommendations on how to ensure access. While the report was 18 months in the making, Ron Cowell, president of the leadership center, said, "The budget situation right now adds a sense of urgency to much of this report."
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3 comments:
I know that in Florida, funding for education is the worst in the country. I've seen first hand how budget cuts affected the arts programs in my town and throughout the state. We even had to bring in reams of printer paper for extra credit because the county couldn't afford to pay for enough paper for the school. All the requests made in support of arts education seem fairly reasonable, and I don't agree that the arts departments should be looked at as the first expendable program due to financial hardship. The arts are just as important as any other educational program.
I know that in a tight economy, naturally, and especially in learning institutions, arts programs and fundings are the first to go. Its sad but true. And especially with the paper crisis, my school faced that too, and barely any handouts were given, if not sparingly, in my high school like Rachel's. If the school can barely provide paper- it would be very difficult to provide art supplies to encourage visual arts, or any arts programs in k-12. Nevertheless, more could be done. If kids were required to buy a basic supply of arts materials, pencils, crayons, a good pad of paper, and one great art teacher was hired, I think that would be a worthwhile way to try and save the arts for our schools.
This problem will never go away. Ever. Funding for the arts will always be a constant struggle and always be a controversy. As fortunate as I am, to have graduated from a school district who decided to start cutting arts funding the year after I graduated, not everyone can have that opportunity. The benefit of our field is that it is easily pursuable outside of school. It is incredible easy to get plugged in to some small theatre and start building experience and learning for those who are passionate about it. The downside is that immediate exposure within school will be eliminated. The whole situation blows - but for those who know what they want to do, there will always be avenues for success.
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