A Historic Opportunity. Today, California is at a critical crossroads. The passage of the Local Control Funding Formula in 2013 quickly and dramatically changed the way local schools set priorities and are funded. Categorical funding, including funds earmarked for arts education, has been almost entirely eliminated. Now, school boards, in partnership with their local community, are empowered to set new, locally driven priorities aimed at improving outcomes for students who are often underserved in public schools. This presents an important opportunity for local community members to speak up in support of arts education in local schools.

The Local Advocacy Network. Anticipating the shift toward local control in school planning, in 2008, the California Alliance for Arts Education launched the Local Advocacy Network, which provides professional development, advocacy expertise and communications tools to support arts education advocacy in local communities.

Since 2008, the network has grown to include over thirty California communities, from Humboldt to Escondido. Each site has a unique set of circumstances, but all of them focus on the goal of ensuring that California public school students have access to a high-quality arts education.

See a list of our current LAN members.

Local Advocacy Network Accomplishments

• 20 of our 20 existing Local Advocacy Network districts made investments in arts education programs or strategies

• 10 of our 20 new districts made new investments in arts education programs or strategies. Districts invested in equipment, professional development, curriculum development, classroom staffing and by hiring a Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) Coordinator for the district.

• 19 of our local alliances in Orange County have adopted an arts plan using a template originated by the California Department of Education and the California Alliance for Arts Education

• Surveys of candidates for school board conducted in over sixty-eight districts for local school board elections, offering voters information about candidate views on arts education
• Arts education advocates sited by California Department of Education as most numerous participants at regional public comment session on California’s proposed new school assessment measures

Read about the Alliance’s Staff and Board.