Arts Education Bill of Rights

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, but rapidly grow to see as your partners, who were engaging you, and others. It's a type of organizing, yes. Community organizing for arts education.

My colleagues and I have been developing a variety of materials to use in the informing part of the informed engagement. We have parent guides, fact sheets, legislation, coalition materials, and campaign letters, and much more coming down the pike.

Here's a draft of a piece that is both a tool to organizing constitutents, a key statement of beliefs, and something that inform the engagement. While we refine this, I thought it might be interesting to hear from the readers of Dewey21c. Let's call it infomed engagement.

In subsequent posts, I will talk a bit more about how this is all working.

Every Child in Every School

An Arts Education Bill of Rights

Every child in every school has the right to a well-rounded education, of which the arts are an essential ingredient. Beyond having great value in and of themselves, the arts promote the health and well-being of children, including academic and personal growth, critical thinking and analytical skills, and the motivation to stay in school and excel. Quality arts education is central to a complete education...and it is required by state education law.

 A quality arts education helps students:

• Open doors of opportunity through the development of skills that are indispensable in the 21st century workforce;
• Foster an sense of personal identity and an appreciation for culture and community
• Develop as a person and global citizen;
• Become more expressive and creative and able to problem solve and work cooperatively
• Stay focused and engaged in school and learning
 • Stay in school, achieve and excel;

The arts engage students and help transform schools into places of inquiry and wonder, where excitement, possibility, discovery, and imagination thrive. Every school must have the resources, leadership, parental involvement and public commitment needed to ensure that every child is able to realize the unique benefits of learning in and through the arts.

Every child in every school has the right to the fundamental components of a quality arts education, including:
1. Instruction by qualified teachers, enriched and strengthened by dedicated teaching artists and cultural institutions;
 2. Facilities and classrooms that are adequately-equipped for arts education teaching and learning ;
3. Access to materials, supplies, equipment, instruments, and a rich array of cultural experiences;
4. The requisite amount of class time devoted to standards-based instruction in all art forms 5. The minimum instructional requirements for arts education as set forth in state education law.

We, the undersigned join The Center for Arts Education in supporting quality arts education for every child in every school.