On June 8th, the Policy Council of the California Alliance for Arts Education voted to recommend the Alliance endorse both funding initiatives on this November’s ballot. The next day the Alliance’s board ratified this recommendation.
“Our children Our Future: Local Schools and Early Education Investment” is sponsored by Molly Munger and supported by the State PTA. The initiative would “stop the bleeding” and put California back on a path to rebuilding funding for education. Though we have a long way to go to get back to where we belong in per pupil funding, this measure is a vital step in the right direction, and the most powerful step we can take to sustain and eventually increase arts learning opportunities for our students.
The “School and Local Public Safety Protection Act” is sponsored by Governor Jerry Brown. The initiative is essential to the survival of public schools in California. Should it not be approved, it is likely that every school arts program will be in jeopardy due to drastic cuts in school funding. There is nothing we can...
In a recent interview with for California Schools, a monthly magazine of the California School Boards Association, Joe Landon reflects on what's working in the Alliance's Local Advocacy Network. Launched in 2008, the program empowers local communities to keep arts programs in schools.
Democracy is slow—it is a world of the tortoise, not the hare. The language to describe legislative steps—“sent to Committee,” “the committee took action,” or “adopted and engrossed”—seem to imply efficiency, celerity, and progress. However, in Massachusetts, a legislative clerk must still physically carry the printed legislation down the hall and lay it on the Governor’s desk. Legislation is a cumbersome process often dismissed with the adage: “Two things you should never watch being made: sausage and the law.”
In their work to uncover new, sustainable biofuels, The Boeing Company relies on the creativity of its workforce. Innovators at Boeing have identified algae as a possible biofuel that could lower carbon emissions for airplanes. That’s one reason why Sarah Murr, a Global Corporate Citizenship Community Investor for Boeing and a Board Member of the California Alliance, travelled to Sacramento to speak to lawmakers about the importance of a creative workforce - not only for companies like Boeing, but for the future of our state in the global economy.
The National Endowment for the Arts has released a new research report, Improving the Assessment of Student Learning in the Arts: State of the Field and Recommendations. As the field of educational assessment advances, and as alternatives to standardized tests emerge, the tools used to evaluate student learning, such as portfolio reviews, are beginning to gain acceptance. Given this development, it is even more important to examine arts educational standards and assessment tools to ensure that arts learning can become a vital force for enhancing 21st century skills. 
Right now, California is one of a handful of states that has resisted using federal Title 1 funds for arts education.
According to John Eger's newest blog in the Huffington Post, "Clearly something big is happening across America" and that something is creativity. Next week, arts education stakeholders from all over California will gather in Coronado to talk about "how the arts and creative education can transform California classrooms." Next month, the California Legislative Joint Committee on the Arts will hold hearings on SB 789, legislation that will require the Governor to develop a "creativity index," which in turn would be used to measure creativity in public schools statewide. SB 789 was authored by Senator Curren Price of the 26th Senatorial District and sponsored by the California Alliance.
