I am a big fan of Mike Petrilli and the gang at the Fordham Institute, even if I disagree with them from time to time. (I might add that they have been quite generous in providing help for the organization, Common Core, of which I am the board treasurer.) If you follow any of the leading public education blogs, one thing you will notice is that the subject of arts education rarely pops up. Scour the blog rolls for these sites and you will also notice that arts education blogs are never listed.

Of course, the absence of arts education as a subject among leaders public education bloggers is something I lament.

So, I took a keen interest in one blog entry and an associated tweet about arts education, from Petrilli writing on the Flypaper blog.

Upon reading an Ed Week piece about the recent NEA report, Arts Education in America: What Declines Mean for Arts Participation, Petrilli sent out a tweet blaming the declines in arts education on the teachers unions.

Then, he realized that a 28 year decline in access, predominately for African American and Hispanic children could not be blamed on teacher unions.

What is more, Petrilli has picked up this issue a bit more and is now recognizing what an easy target arts education is for many district and school leaders who should know better by now.

Click here to read Arts Education on the Ropes, by Mike Petrilli.