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Federal K-12 Arts Ed Funding on the Chopping Block Again
In case you missed it, on September 29th, in Ed Week’s Curriculum Matters blog was this article: STEM Ed. Among Cuts Sought in Draft House Budget Plan. The House is at it again, proposing the zeroing out of K-12 arts education at the USDOE, as well as a host of other vital programs, including the…
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Guest Blog, Jane Remer: A Paradox, A Paradox, A Most Ingenious Paradox –The Common Core of State Standards and The Untamable Core of the American Class System
Jane Remer’s CliffNotes: September 29, 2011 “A Paradox, A Paradox, a Most Ingenious Paradox” (Pirates of Penzance/Gilbert and Sullivan), The Common Core of (Voluntary) State Standards and the Untamable Core of the American Class System. The 21st Century is young, but it’s clearly becoming a paradox. The now developing Common Core meticulously charts the paths and…
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Batuta — Columbia’s El Sistema. An Essay by Eric Booth and Tricia Tunstall
As I write, I am staring out the window on the 7:00 Acela heading to DC from New York Penn Station. I have a board meeting of Common Core, for which I am board treasurer. What was a sunny day in New York, has turned into a deep fog. The train moves through the fog…
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A Favorite Arts Ed Video: The Mural Project at JHS256
I have always been fond of project-based learning. And this mural project is one true exemplar. The opportunities for many to be engaged in a multi-year arts project, that combines youth development, art, music, history, social studies, literacy, and more. Not to mention, it’s a stunning work. Click on over to this YouTube video, and…
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Arts + Education = Butts in the Seats = ?!?
Advocate: It is essential that students experience Shakespeare. School Leader: I never really liked Shakespeare. Anne Midgette is always a good read. First, she’s a cracker jack writer. Second, she isn’t shy about her opinions. Third, you should hear her talk about food!! When she was writing for The New York Times, she had more…
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A Pretty Good Primer on Arts Education Advocacy
GothamSchools is a sort of Artsjournal for education issues. Historically, it has been focused on New York City, but has expanded its coverage in the past couple of years. GS published a through report on yesterday’s press conference, protest, and report release concerning proposed budget cuts that will lead to a reduction in certified arts…
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A Living Mural At McKinley Middle School: Sustaining the Arts Across Years
Classes Come and Go, But the Mural Grows and Grows, by Fernanda Santos, The New York Times, May 18th, 2011 The mural occupies the walls and steel doors along two floors of a middle school in Brooklyn. If turned into pavement, it would extend more than two city blocks. It’s a terrific story about a…
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Worth The Time: A 1999 Conversation with Maxine Greene
From the December edition of NewMusicBox.org, comes “An Arts Education Symposium,” with the great Maxine Greene, Hollis Headrick, Polly Kahn, Frank Oteri, and me. For those who don’t know Polly, she’s the former education director at The New York Philharmonic, the 92nd Street Y, and other organizations. Today, she is the vice president for learning…
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Arts Teachers As Endangered Species
Okay, I know, this makes two posts in a row about cuts to arts education. It is, as the Mark Knopfler song goes: “It’s what it is.” In this case, it’s an old and quite sore subject. And yes, it’s a subject that makes me angry and eager for new city leadership. For all of…
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More Scorched Earth Education Policy: San Diego To Cut All Elementary Arts Teachers
It’s pretty amazing, that a relatively strong district like San Diego Unified School District would make such plans: If trustees sign off on the budget proposal, it will mean the end of all elementary music education except for the program at Crown Pointe Junior Music Academy, which does not rely on visual and performing arts…