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 More Art, Please!
By Marilyn Anderson The arts aren't just extracurricular or recreational activities, and legislators know it. The federal education law, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA), cites the arts among the core subjects. It's a tremendous start, according to arts advocates, yet support at the local and state level are necessary to ensure that arts receive available funding—and not just lip service.
Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, the nation's leading arts advocacy organization, emphasizes the importance of parents working to ensure the existence of local arts agencies to advance arts in the community. Parents, he said, should also look for ways in which they can support arts education in their child's school. They can begin by asking questions to find out whether their state has arts standards and is implementing them in the school district.
While surveys show that parents think the arts are important to their children's development, odds are that they aren't getting enough of the arts in and out of school, according to Americans for the Arts. To remedy this, Americans for the Arts asks parents to speak up as local and state education agencies determine how to allocate their federal funds and prepare their education plans. "If every parent spent one hour a year making calls to federal or state legislators and local policy makers, such as the mayor or superintendent," said Lynch, "or writing letters, you'd have comprehensive arts programs. Some legislators think 10 people is a landslide of calls!"
 Lynch sums up the value of exposing young people to the arts by saying it leads later in life to better job and citizen opportunities. He affirmed, "With these things as the prize at the end of the day, it makes sense to pay attention to the arts." Support the Arts in Your School Through the Reflections Program
National PTA believes that the arts, music, literature, dance, drama, and visual arts are central to learning, and that infusion of the arts in elementary, secondary, and continuing education curricula is key to the development of students. In its arts advocacy efforts, National PTA offers the Reflections Program to all local PTAs. This theme-based arts recognition program gives students the opportunity to explore and learn about various art forms. More than 600,000 students each year submit entries in dance, literature, musical composition, photography, video, and visual arts.
More Art, Please!By Marilyn AndersonThe arts aren't just extracurricular or recreational activities, and legislators know it. The federal education law, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA), cites the arts among the core subjects. It's a tremendous start, according to arts advocates, yet support at the local and state level are necessary to ensure that arts receive available funding—and not just lip service.
Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, the nation's leading arts advocacy organization, emphasizes the importance of parents working to ensure the existence of local arts agencies to advance arts in the community. Parents, he said, should also look for ways in which they can support arts education in their child's school. They can begin by asking questions to find out whether their state has arts standards and is implementing them in the school district.
While surveys show that parents think the arts are important to their children's development, odds are that they aren't getting enough of the arts in and out of school, according to Americans for the Arts. To remedy this, Americans for the Arts asks parents to speak up as local and state education agencies determine how to allocate their federal funds and prepare their education plans. "If every parent spent one hour a year making calls to federal or state legislators and local policy makers, such as the mayor or superintendent," said Lynch, "or writing letters, you'd have comprehensive arts programs. Some legislators think 10 people is a landslide of calls!"
Lynch sums up the value of exposing young people to the arts by saying it leads later in life to better job and citizen opportunities. He affirmed, "With these things as the prize at the end of the day, it makes sense to pay attention to the arts." |  |
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