-
Cuts to Music Programs in Detroit Public Schools
Too Often the Music Dies in City Schools, is a recent article in the Detroit Free Press. While it’s a story we all know too well, cuts to arts education programs, it’s worth the read. In particular it looks at the issue through the lens of jazz players who have come out of Detroit Public…
-
Arne Duncan and his Audience with Arts Education
If you haven’t heard by now, Arne Duncan, US Secretary of Education is having a conference call with just about everyone in the United States interested in arts education. Of course you have to register. It’s like a giant arts ed party line. For those old enough to know what a party line was… If…
-
From Arne Duncan: “Bringing to your Attention the Importance of Arts as a Core Subject”
Dated August 2009, here’s a open letter to “School and Education Community Leaders.” Arts Education Letter_Secretary Duncan.pdf On August 18th, at 1pm EDT, Secretary Duncan will participate in a conference call hosted by the NAMM Foundation and the Support Music Coalition. Click here to register for the call: http://webcast.streamlogics.com/audience/index.asp?eventid=78250848
-
Rachel Maddow on Arts and Arts Education
I am sure by now that you’ve come across this, as it has already been posted to all sorts of blogs and appeared in the news. But hey, this is August, the dog days of summer, so maybe you’ve missed it. It is perhaps one of the most original takes on the arts in America,…
-
Now is the Time to Regulate Teaching Artists
Or is it? Okay, I was intentionally provocative in my title. Not just in using the term “regulate,” but in using the declarative form rather than the interrogative. Should we start regulating teaching artists? Do you like that better? In the past two weeks I have had two different conversations with members of the New…
-
My Dinner with Merce and its Connection to Cultural Policy
I wanted to end this very hot. humid, and WET New York summer week by recalling a swell dinner I had once with Merce Cunningham and Laura Kuhn, Director of The Cage Trust. I won’t recount what the obits and testaments said very well about Merce as a truly giant, emblematic figure of modern dance…
-
NY Times Editorial Recognizes the Truth and the Need
They tell you not to sweat the “small stuff; it’s all small stuff.” You tell me: is this small or large? One sentence in today’s New York Times editorial on the selection of David Steiner as the new NYS Commissioner of Education: “And as a former director of arts education at the National Endowment for…
-
David Steiner, former Director of Arts Ed at the NEA to become NYS Commissioner of Education
David Steiner, whom some of you will remember as the Director of Arts Education at the National Endowment for the Arts (he was Sarah Cunningham’s predecessor), is set to be announced as the new Commissioner of Education in New York State. The Board of Regents is expected to announce this today. Steiner is presently Dean…
-
A Big Policy Win for K-12 Arts Education in New York City
I cannot recall a K-12 education issue in New York City higher profile than that of the renewal of the 2002 School Governance Law, aka “Mayoral Control of the Schools.” Everyone concerned with K-12 education in New York City, as well many across the country have been watching this issue to see whether Mayor Michael…
-
Is a Disaster Brewing in Music on Public Radio in New York City?
There’s been quite a bit of coverage concerning the acquisition of WQXR, one of the last commercial classical radio stations in America, by the local public radio station, WNYC. WQXR is being sold by The New York Times. It was for many years “The Radio Station of The New York Times.” I won’t bother to…