With state budget deficits leaving school arts programs weaker than ever, a new program is planned to infuse school districts with a plan and money.
By Lori Berezin, special to The Malibu Times
The state budget deficit of $34 billion and the trickle-down effect on schools, including the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD), which faced $13.8 million in budget cuts, has left arts and music education in a precarious state.
In an effort to infuse arts education in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission (LACC) and County Office of Education have instituted a Regional Blueprint for Arts Education program.
Five districts, including the SMMUSD, will receive support during the 2003-04 school year in an effort to establish guidelines for future districts.
Grants from Sony Pictures Entertainment and the National Endowment for the Arts are helping to fund the program.
Tom Whaley, director of fine arts, music and dance for the SMMUSD, said he is concerned about the previous 86 percent cut in the California Arts Council and hopes this new arts blueprint will help offset some of the deficit.
He said he hopes the program will “get the arts on everyone’s minds.”
According to Whaley, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified schools fortunately already have “some of the most advanced fine arts and music programs” in Los Angeles. The other four districts are Culver City Unified, Norwalk-La Mirada Unified, Pasadena Unified and Rosemead School District. These school districts will help provide ideas for a meaningful arts education program, which will be established in all 82 districts throughout the county over the next 10 years.
“A coach will be provided through this funding to facilitate meetings between arts teams comprised of teachers, parents, nonprofits, art teachers, superintendents and others to help organize an arts program,” Whaley said.
Kris Alexander is the coach for the SMMUSD and is executive director of the California Arts Project, a former teacher, and a visual and performing arts specialist. She will assist in team meetings to help coordinate and analyze the data that will eventually be implemented into a blueprint for this school district and others.
Ayanna Hudson, arts education program director for the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, said, “The first goal of each of the 82 school districts is to adopt a plan and budget for arts education. In choosing the first five districts, which included the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified, we looked at all the districts and chose a range of districts based on readiness and previous arts budgeting experience. We chose both large and small districts, some with really strong programs already and those who were less successful. Santa Monica-Malibu is one of the strongest. They’ve been doing great things. Now, we want to help them utilize district funding as well.”
Private and public funding will be sought to help implement the blueprint.
Pat Cairns, principal at Juan Cabrillo Elementary School, said the local PTA sponsors the arts program at the school, but more money is needed.
“We have an outstanding program … ” he said. “Students are introduced to various artists and taught a variety of art techniques. Students have art in the classroom regularly. The thing that is lacking is district and state funding.”
Mike Matthews, Malibu High School Principal, also noted that the high school’s program is “excellent.”
The school has a visual arts program, including painting, drawing, photography and ceramics, as well as performing arts including drama, choir, orchestra and jazz band. Fortunately, Matthews can utilize some state funding that is unavailable to the elementary schools.
“High schools get $5,000 per kid,” Matthews said. “It’s my choice what to do with those funds. Physical education is funded. Art. History. It’s for everything.”
The elementary schools are not as fortunate. Their funding must come from the PTA. Still, in Malibu, they seem to be doing well, according to Principal Philip Cott of Webster Elementary School.
“Diane Hines teaches art in this PTA-funded program,” Cott said. “Each class gets a lesson every week. We’ve tied them to art history. Now, we’re connecting them with math and science. There is also music, taught by Jodi Ream, which includes a half-hour weekly music lesson and chorus for the third-, fourth- and fifth-graders.”
However, Cott said, “There is no drama or movement program at this time. What is also lacking is institutional support. With our regular funding, we’re struggling to supply regular learning and soap in the bathroom.”
The PTA also sponsors the choral music program at Point Dume Elementary School. The district, however, does fund the instrumental music program for fourth- and fifth-graders by providing credentialed teachers.
According to Point Dume Principal Chi Kim, they also have a strong visual arts program. “This year, for instance, students will focus on Frank Lloyd Wright. Students will design a work in nature. Later this winter, we will focus on Leonardo da Vinci with sketching and journals. The teachers do a phenomenal job.”
Help is on the way with the Blueprints for the Arts program.
“One of the key aims of the 10-year Blueprint for the Arts program is to instigate district help, financial and otherwise,” Hudson said.
“We will also try to provide resources, such as an on-line interactive directory to federal grants that support arts education. But, we are trying to get the schools away from piecemeal education funding streams. The LAUSD, for instance, has adopted a 10-year strategic plan and budget. Even in the face of cutbacks, the board has increased their arts budget by $5 million this year. We have trained the co-chairs of a community arts team to guide and help write a plan and policy for the Santa Monica-Malibu District and others.”
The Blueprint’s key belief is that arts education must be an integral part of the curriculum and budget in every county school district. It will be monitored quarterly.
The Blueprint was adopted by the Board of Supervisors, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission and the Los Angeles County Board of Education in 2002. Further information can be obtained at www.lacountyarts.org.