But of course, you say. Well, this is one of those things you want to watch, for the funding for field trips is closely associated with funding for teaching artists, arts supplies, school plays, etc. While the stimulus money for education will pour significant funds into some schools, at the very same time other schools will see budget cuts. It's part of the schizoid time we live in. Moreover, some schools will have more money than ever for certain things and less for others. Arts Education is more than likely to be in the "less for others" … [Read more...]

Only Children Need ApplyOkay, of course we all know about teaching artists providing arts instruction in schools. We also know of non-arts teachers providing arts instruction (which predates the arts teacher). We also know, although it is still an outlier in arts education, of parents and other volunteers teaching arts.Okay, here's a new one: a New York City public school, P.S. 37, cuts its certified music teacher because according to the principal: "we didn't have money for it."  For over a year there was no music teacher, and of course, … [Read more...]

I once had the great good fortune to be taken to the woodshed by Warren Simmons, head of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform. Warren gave me a brilliant lesson on advocacy through the lens of informed engagement. Without information, the engagement was likely to fail. What and how would you inform those you seek to engage, both as a precursor to engagement, and as part of an iterative process including ongoing development of information, ideas, principles, etc., coming directly from those you first viewed as people you sought to engage, … [Read more...]

Jane Remer's Cliff Notes (Number Three):  The Arts Just Don't Fit in Most of Our Schools Face it: The arts still don't fit in most of our schools and none of the advocacy claims made for them have helped a whit in the last five decades. The arts community - arts educators, arts organizations, artists who work with schools, other friends of the arts--has tried and failed for years to make the case for the arts in every student's life and learning environment. Claims abound for the arts as important intellectual and experiential domains as … [Read more...]

Reading the news on NewMusicBox just this moment brought a big smile to my face. There was a time, a long, long time, when Reich didn't stand a chance to win a Pulitzer, as there was a stylistic bias against such music at the Pulitzer and any other number of important music awards. So many of my Reich favorites, Music for 18 Musicians, Drumming, Tehilim, Different Trains...they were never considered.Reich won it, in 2009 for Double Sextet. If you want to see and hear a video of the work, click this link to NewMusicBox.Hooray for Reich, for … [Read more...]

In one of my entries last week, Diane Ravitch on Mayoral Control of the Schools, I highlighted Ravitch's New York Times Op-Ed piece on school governance.This week, the chancellor of the New York City public schools, Joel I. Klein, responded with a letter to the editor:New York Schools: The Chancellor's Report Card "The national tests she cites are not the measure of federal accountability, are given only to a small sample of schools, and are not aligned with New York State standards and therefore with what we teach in our classrooms. (That … [Read more...]

No, that's not a mistake, it's not one of those moments when you screw up while doing a spell check. Ever have that happen with an email, you approve the correction that changes the word to a non-sequitur and off it goes!! (Lord knows, I've gone back to a blog or two I've written and wanted to insert a combination spelling, syntax, style, and grammar check into my brain...)Nicholas Kristoff wrote an absolutely fascinating piece in today's Times about I.Q.The piece is inspired by a new book by Richard Nisbitt: Intelligence and How to Get It: Why … [Read more...]

Visiting a school in Chicago, Education Secretary Arne Duncan gets questioned about arts education by a student.This comes from a Chicago Tribune piece titled: Teacher Jobs and Reform Tops Duncan's List...students asked questions about the economy and school programming. One asked how funding would continue for music and the arts. "It will take more resources and take more time," Duncan said. Indeed.And here's a little list from Gilbert and Sullivan: … [Read more...]

In today's New York Times, there is a front page piece by Dan Barry titled: At an Age for Music and Imagination, Real Life Is Intruding.It's the story about a smart and musically talented high school student who has dreams of pursuing a career as a violinist, but who will choose instead to enter the field of nursing. It appears as an all or nothing choice: music or nursing.It's a well done story that looks at the life she leads, including the hours she works at the local Sonic, the preparations and excitement she and her fellow students feel as … [Read more...]

It's been a while in the making and it's interesting as the staff had a major role in putting it together. Click here to watch Ford Foundation President Luis A. Ubiñas introduce the new plan."A comprehensive set of new strategies aimed at creating fairness and equity for people everywhere."What's in it for the arts, you may ask: Supporting next-generation arts institutionsArts and culture play a vital role in the creation of more just and vibrant societies. Our work aims to promote public discourse, cultural pluralism and artistic creativity … [Read more...]