In This Issue
- California Budget Update
- LA Times Letter to the Editor
- School Board Saves Elementary Music Program - Maybe
- Art, Music Gives Students Skills to Succeed in Tomorrow's World
- LA Arts Highschool Brings Prestige, But High Cost
- Washington State Teachers Declare Need for Arts Curricula
- Two California Arts Ed Initiatives Spotlighted in RAND Report
CONFERENCES, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
- Arts Learning Summer Institutes Alameda County
- Art in Education Teaching Institutes CA College of the Arts
- TCAP Regional Centers: 2008 Summer Prof Development Institutes
- SouthCAP Summer Institutes
- Bay Area Writing Project
- The Center's Arts Teach Summer Leadership Inst, OC
- ACSO 40th Annual Conference
- Guitar Center Foundation Provides Funds for Music Instruction
- Office Administrator, CA Alliance for Arts Education
- Director, Presidential Library
June 25 , 2008
A compelling reason to become a California Alliance Advocate
Eventually, the wheels will come off . . . unless you have a lynchpin. And that is exactly what the Alliance has to keep arts education moving and on track in Sacramento.
How appropriate that our lynchpin is, in fact, Kathy Lynch, our legislative advocate and lobbyist who is there for us all the way, minding every education and budget committee, every floor meeting that might further – or threaten – the future of arts education in our state. She prowls the halls of the capitol for us every day to protect the $115 million block grant funding for arts and music that we have all worked so hard to secure.
This year, Kathy is closely monitoring over 50 bills potentially affecting arts education – both positively and negatively – and is there for us right now in the final stages of budget negotiations, analyzing, advocating, and relaying the intelligence we need to know to keep the arts rolling straight and true as a dedicated line item in the education budget.
We are all lynchpins in this effort, but no one hugs the wheel as closely as Kathy. Help us maintain our efforts in Sacramento by making your donation as an Alliance Advocate now. Your support will go directly to Kathy’s work… and in turn, to a bright future for California’s children.
Click HERE to become an Alliance Advocate!
California
Budget Update
We are in a “hurry up and wait” mode this week regarding the budget.
While there is some urgency to passing a timely budget—the State Controller
indicates the state will run out of money in mid-August—the negotiations
are proceeding somewhat sporadically. The Legislature is set to go on summer
break on July 3rd, and the Democrats are all anxious to get to the National
Convention in August, but we don’t have any firm indication when the negotiations
will be wrapped up. The state budget is now being taken up by the 2008
Budget Conference Committee, which has met but has not closed out many
items. The committee is charged with reconciling the Senate and Assembly
versions of the budget. The Big 5 (Governor and majority and minority leaders
of both houses) is also convening, and that seems to be where the action
is, albeit behind closed doors.
As always, we will keep the field apprised of any developments in the
Arts and Music Block Grant Funds. The proposal in the Governor's May
Revise to allow unspent balances of all categorical programs to revert
to the general fund is just that- a proposal. While this flexibility
is appealing to administrators, it would have the effect of punishing
districts that were taking the necessary time to strategically and thoughtfully
plan arts education programs. To that end the Alliance is strongly communicating
these concerns to both the Governor's office and to legislative leaders.
A general reminder that the budget proposals do not become law until
the legislature passes a budget and the Governor signs it!
At the local school district level, here's what you can do today:
Write a letter to your local school superintendent and school board members.
Help to inform them that their decisions will impact student access to
a core academic subject-- the visual and performing arts. Click here to
see a sample letter.
LA
Times Letter to the Editor
The LA Times publishes a letter to the editor from Laurie Schell, director
of the California Alliance for Arts Education, affirming the vital role of the
arts in a well-rounded education. Click here to read the letter.
School
Board Saves Elementary Music Program - Maybe
The Hesperia Unified School District voted Tuesday afternoon to save
the district's elementary school music program -- but it may not be that
simple. Board member Lee Rogers said the savings generated by dissolving
the district's photo shop program -- eliminating those staff positions
was also on the agenda Tuesday, and passed by a 3-1 vote -- would be almost
sufficient to save the four elementary school music teachers scheduled
to be laid off. At Tuesday's meeting, board members were given a memorandum
prepared by the district's personnel staff. The memo itemized all of the
salary and benefits costs for the elementary music teachers and the high
school piano teacher who have received pink slips for the coming school
year. The total cost to bring back both the high school piano and elementary
music programs is listed as $387,217, although some of the salaries listed
are lower than those paid to the veteran teachers who currently teach the
elementary school music program. To read the article in full, click
here.
Art,
Music Gives Students Skills to Succeed in Tomorrow's World
Budget cuts. Teacher layoffs. In this time of budget crisis, can our public
schools really afford to continue funding arts and music education? The appropriate
question is: Can California schools afford not to? The Dana Arts and Cognition
Consortium recently identified a direct correlation between arts experiences
and both academic achievement and personal development. The research shows that
students who are exposed to the arts demonstrate increased overall academic success
beyond just test scores, are connected to the world outside of school, and have
more self-confidence. What's more, the report found that training in the arts
leads to higher levels of reading acquisition, motivation, extended attention
spans, information recall in long-term memory, and understanding of geometric
representation. For example, specific pathways in the brain can be identified
and improved during performing and visual arts instruction. To read article
in full, click here.
LA
Arts Highschool Bring Prestige, But High Cost
A steel tower wrapped in a spiraling ribbon is one of the most striking features
of a new arts high school set to open next year. Its $230 million price tag is
another. The Los Angeles High School for the Visual and Performing Arts, with
space for some 1,600 students, most from surrounding low-income neighborhoods,
is the architectural crown jewel of the district's ambitious $20 billion building
campaign. Its spacious studios and 995-seat theater encased in austere concrete
are enough to make anybody wish they were a young clarinetist in the district.
Supporters call the five-acre campus a beacon for a reformed educational system,
a magnet for good teachers, and a means of raising dismal student performance
in the nation's second-largest school district. To read the article in
full, click here. (Source: Americans
for the Arts)
Washington
State Teachers Declare Need for Arts Curricula
Identified as a direct need through the Principals’ program, this new addition
to Tools for Schools is designed to serve as a central repository for high quality
dance, music, theater, and visual art curricula, aligned with state arts standards,
to help teachers integrate the arts into their everyday instruction. ArtsEd
Washington is taking the lead in collecting and collating the curricula. With
a web-based portal, principals and teachers will be able to search for and download
curricula that meet the needs of their classrooms/schools. The goal of this project
is to provide the content support that will enable their students to meet state
learning standards in the arts. To read more, click here. (Source:
Americans for the Arts)
Two
California Arts Ed Initiatives Spotlighted in RAND Report
Los Angeles County’s Arts for All initiative and Alameda County
Office of Education’s Art IS Education are recognized as national
models in a RAND Corporation study. The report examines the efforts of
six urban areas, where arts learning advocates have formed coordinated
networks of schools, cultural organizations, funders, local government
and other groups to work in common to revive arts education. These efforts
are fragile and vary widely from city to city, but when well planned and
executed, they show promise toward achieving the goal of more arts education
for more children. This RAND study, commissioned by the Wallace Foundation,
examines six such initiatives — in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles
County, New York City and the Oakland-Berkeley area of California. It
details common strategies they have used and discusses conditions that have
helped and hindered their effectiveness. For more information, click here.
Conferences, Professional Development
Arts
Learning Summer Institutes Alameda County
From June 14-August 14, immerse yourself in professional development
in the arts this summer! A range of 1-5 day hands-on experience workshops
focus on arts and arts-integrated instruction that inspires students and
enhances learning. Click here to visit the Alameda County Art Is Education
web site and view a list of conferences and workshops taking place this summer.
Art
In Education Teaching Institutes CA College of the Arts
Students are introduced to the basics of Visual Thinking Strategies
(VTS), an arts integration tool that can be used across the curriculum. This
student-centered, research-based method of facilitating open-ended discussions
is geared toward developing critical thinking skills, building visual literacy,
supporting language development, and refining powers of observation.
For Nonartists: Explore and reflect in an intensive arts workshop that engages participants to make and look at art nonstop for three days. Myriad art-making processes and techniques are explored, including traditional, multicultural, and contemporary.
For more information and registration, click here.
TCAP
Regional Centers: 2008 Summer Professional Development Institutes and Programs
TCAP regional centers offer customized professional development
programs, yearly institutes, leadership development, support for assessing
and developing arts education plan and programs, and other arts education
related services. Click here to
find your regional TCAP Professional Development Center and Summer 2008 Institutes
and Programs.
SouthCAP
(TCAP) Summer Institutes
SouthCAP, a regional site of The California Arts Project, is offering
five institutes this summer for educators from Orange, San Diego and Imperial
Counties. These offerings are for the elementary classroom teacher as well as
the arts teacher, K-12. All institutes offer Continuing Education credits and
some scholarships are available. For a discounted price apply by April 1st, and
due to the current budget constraints in many districts, payment may be deferred
to the next fiscal year. For more information, click
here or contact
Helena Hanna at 619-594-6647 or hhanna@projects.sdsu.edu.
The
Bay Area Writing Project / de Young Museum Summer Mini Institute
July 29-August 8, 2008, 9:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. This mini-institute
brings together the resources of the de Young Museum instructors and UC Berkeley's
Bay Area Writing Project to provide (K-8) teachers with an opportunity to develop
confidence in working with the museum's art collections as a teaching and learning
resource and expand your understanding of the multiple roles writing can play
in students' learning. For more information and to register, click here.
The
Center's Arts Teach Summer Leadership Institute, August 4-8, 2008, Orange
County Performing Arts Center
Institute includes presentation by Victoria Stevens, Ph.D. on the latest in
brain research that shows how training and experience in the arts not only improves
student learning and achievement but also contributes to the development of life-long
learning and creative thinking skills needed for success in the 21st Century.
Participate in hand-on arts workshops led by Orange County Performing Arts Center
Master Teaching Artists, the Orange County Museum of Art education staff, and
the Orange County Department of Education. The week includes a West Coast
premiere performance by the American Ballet Theatre. Continuing education units
are available from UC Irvine, University Extension. For registration information
on the Arts Teach Institute, click here.
ACSO
40th Annual Conference
August 7-9, 2008 in Walnut Creek Hosted by the California Symphony. Click here for
a convenient overview of the sessions. For descriptions of all
of the sessions, take a peek at the Conference
Brochure . Online
Registration is now available for your convenience. Register
before July 1st to take advantage of the Early Bird rates. (Groups
of four or more please register by fax or mail.)
Resources, Funding Opportunities
Guitar
Center Foundation Provides Funds for Music Instruction
The Guitar Center Music Foundation accepts grant applications throughout
the year from 501(c)(3) organizations. Qualifying applicants are established,
ongoing and sustainable music programs across the United States that provide
music instruction for people of any age who would not otherwise have the
opportunity to make music. For more information, click here.
CA
Alliance for Arts Education (Pasadena) Seeks Full-Time Office Administrator
Duties include supporting senior staff, coordinating Board meetings & constituent
events, maintaining membership & donor database, updating website & e-newsletter,
managing vendors, technology troubleshooting. BA or BS degree; 5 years
of experience in non-profit administration or fundraising; previous experience
in supporting executive staff. Must have exemplary communication and interpersonal
skills to interact effectively with the education and arts/nonprofit communities
and strong organizational, logistics, time management, and coordination
skills. Start date early August. Send cover letter, resume and 3
references to Executive Director Laurie Schell at laurie@artsed411.org.
To see a complete job description, click here.
Director
Walter and Leonore Annenberg Presidential Learning Center at the Ronald Reagan
Presidential Library (Simi Valley, CA)
Send resume/CV & cover letter as attachments to: mb@morrisberger.com
Submit by mail to:
Morris & Berger
500 North Brand Boulevard, Suite 2150
Glendale, CA 91203-1923
fax: (818) 507-4770.
For a complete position description, click here.
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