It’s well-known that a well-developed arts education teaches communications skills, teamwork, problem solving, responsibility, and the ability to adapt to change. According to Sarah Murr, title, all of these skills are considered critical by Boeing for its highly skilled workforce. However, tight state budgets and a lack of appreciation for what an arts education provides a young mind, and subsequently an adult mind, have resulted in the abandonment or near abandonment of arts programs across the nation.

This recent SF Examiner article offers snapshot of how schools in San Francisco and all over California rely on a "fraying patchwork of grants, programs and donations” for arts education. Some districts rely almost entirely on parent fundraising to maintain these programs, while schools in lower-income communities go without. San Francisco’s situation reflects conditions that exist across the state according to Mark Slavkin, chairman of the California Alliance for Arts Education, “The northeastern states are spending twice as much on education as California,” Slavkin said.

Music Matters, a new publication from the Arts Education Partnership (AEP) (http://www.aep-arts.org/ ), shows conclusively that: music education equips students to learn; music education facilitates student academic achievement; and music education develops the creative capacities for lifelong success. AEP reviewed an extensive body of research to identify high-quality, evidence-based studies that document student learning outcomes associated with an education in and thro

Sacramento's coalition is just starting out!

Look for more details soon.

For now, visit our friends at For Arts' Sake .

Our first meeting for the Placentia-Yorba Linda Alliance for Arts Education Leadership Team took place on February 23, 2011 at 3:30 in the afternoon.

Do you have a passion for the arts and believe that an integrated arts education is essential for our children? Are you concerned that our children may not learn the creative skills necessary to compete in today's business world if arts education is eliminated?
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The HB Alliance for Arts Education is seeking parent volunteers from each school in the Huntington Beach and Ocean View districts to serve as Arts Advocates. The Advocates will:

I started a recording studio for teens in my home in 2005. After recording 400 teens (and many of them returning several times) I was able to join a public school to offer my services.

Not all candidates are aware of some of the cuts to the arts in our area nor has there been enough support of current high school arts requirements to have one full year of a fine art and the need for fine arts class as an entrance requirement into the UC or CSU educational systems, etc..... I think this is something that we can all work to insure the best informed and qualified candidates.