The
Argonaut
An arts education,
advocacy database for teachers, parents, students and
business
A compilation of
news stories/articles showing the difficulties facing arts education.
Updated regularly
04/21/03 Milwaukee Schools Slashing Arts Education - Milwaukee's public school district is having
a budget crisis. So how does it propose solving it? In part, by
decimating its arts programs. "Although the district's financial
officers will not submit a proposed budget to the School Board until
May 1, a preliminary analysis shows that the district will likely
lose 21 art instruction positions and 13 music positions. The cuts
would reduce the district's costs by more than $2.4 million. It seems
pretty obvious to us right now that the arts are where there are
going to be some big cuts."
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
04/20/03 (Source - ArtsJournal)
04/21/03 New Mexico Legislature Votes To
Restore Arts Education - The New
Mexico House of Representatives has voted unanimously to restore arts
education in public schools. "Arts education has been shown to
enhance many aspects of a child's intellect, including critical
thinking and creative problem solving," said the bill's sponsor. "The
bill was supported by members of both parties." Santa Fe New Mexican 02/19/03 (Source -
ArtsJournal)
04/21/03 The Inevitability Of Arts Education Cuts - California is facing big budget cuts, and
San Francisco alongside it. So state and city governments are making
cuts wherever they can. And what's likely to get cut? In the schools
- arts education. Why? because it's easier than cutting general
teachers. "The cuts will come with apologies and heart-wrenching
statements from City officials, SFUSD leaders, and school site
decision makers. They will give the arts their verbal support and let
us all know how much they love the arts and how important arts are to
the education of our youth, but then will say, 'What choice do we
have'?" San Francisco Classical Voice 02/18/03 (Source -
ArtsJournal)
04/08/03 Macfarlane
Walter & Ross To Cease Publication
- Another Canadian publishing
house is going under. This time, it's the "elite nonfiction"
publisher Macfarlane Walter & Ross, which had been operating as a
division of McLelland & Stewart since 1999. MW&R had been put
up for sale by McLelland & Stewart, but no buyer has been found,
and publisher Doug Gibson says that MW&R will cease publication
at the end of the month. Venture capitalist Scott Griffin, one
potential buyer, said that MW&R "is losing money and it has a
number of problems associated with large advances and large
inventories - all the usual problems of most publishing companies,"
The Toronto Star (Canada)
04/08/03 Posted: 04/08/2003 6:15 am
04/03/03
Arts
institutions face funding cut -
By Annabel Crabb
The Government will trim the
funding of institutions such as the National Museum and National
Archives by removing their ability to claim depreciation on their
collections in the approaching federal budget. The Age - Canberra - 04/03/03
04/02/03 Colorado
Arts Council Could Be Dead - This Week
The 36-year-old Colorado Council
of the Arts faces elimination this week by the state legislature.
"During the past few years, there have been attempts to get rid of
the council, most notably a proposal to shift its funding to the
creation of a state boxing commission. That crisis was resolved when
the agency agreed to split its grants equally between metro area arts
groups and the 57 counties in the rest of Colorado. Now the planets
have aligned to make the council just one of dozens of programs
facing gutting or elimination in the scramble to balance the budget."
Oh yes, and if it goes away, the Arts Council won't be coming back
anytime soon. Count on it. Rocky
Mountain News (Denver) 03/30/03
04/02/03 Saving
Music Education? With
budget cuts across America, music education programs are being cut.
Supporters are rallying to try to save them, but it's a hard
sellRecognizing that parents nationwide are facing the same battle, a
coalition of national music groups launched a new Web site this month
to help them make their case. SupportMusic.com provides local groups with research and
tips. San Jose
Mercury-News 03/31/03
03/31/03 Why Cut The Arts? Why are the nation's governors and
legislatures talking about zeroing out (or at least severely
slashing) arts funding, when such cuts will be less than a drop in
the bucket of spending cuts and tax increases most states will need
to balance their bloated budgets this year? The arts are always a
popular target for conservative policymakers, but on a fiscal level,
the proposed cuts make no sense. Not only does public support of the
arts tend to result in more money flowing back into state and local
coffers than going out, but the cuts will, in the long run, likely
have a negative impact on the economic quality of life in the
affected states. Los Angeles
Times 02/26/03
03/31/03 Missouri Considers A State Of No
Arts Funding - Missouri weighs the consequences of zeroing out state
arts funding. "The possibility of a future without a Missouri state
arts agency raises basic questions: Is there symbolic value in a
state arts council beyond the money it distributes? And at a time
when both the federal and state governments face mounting deficits,
should tax money be spent on the arts, which some lawmakers view as a
luxury?" Kansas City Star 03/17/03
03/31/03 New Jersey May Restore Some Arts
Funding - New Jersey Governor James McGreevey is reconsidering
abolishing state arts funding. A spokesman for the governor's office
says that "a decision has been made to find the means to provide
funding for arts communities across the state," and that "it would
not be unreasonable for the New Jersey State Council on the Arts to
get back about half of the $18 million it lost." NJ.com
(AP) 03/17/03
03/17/03 UK Teachers Fear Disappearing Arts
Education Is Harming Students
- Instruction in the arts is
shrinking in Britain as the school calendar gets more crowded. "More
than 80 per cent of UK headteachers say they battle to find time to
schedule arts lessons, while almost 90 per cent of teachers worry
that the sidelining of arts is affecting their students' ability to
think imaginatively. According to the survey of 695 primary,
secondary and sixth-form teachers, two-thirds believe the reduction
in arts teaching will be detrimental to the fabric of the country,
resulting in a diminished creative industry and fewer
artists." The Guardian (UK)
03/16/03
Click - Schools
Schedules Sideline the Arts
03/12/03 Israel's Artists Threaten
Shutdown - Israel's arts groups
plan to shut down the country's cultural life June 1 "if the
government does not restore funding for artistic productions. Israel,
like governments around the world, is facing a budget crisis, and has
made deep cuts in cultural funding. Jerusalem Post 03/12/03 (Source - Arts Journal)
03/10/03 State Arts Funding - Going,
Going... - States across America are cutting arts funding. "To
be sure, it is an extraordinarily difficult time for state budgets.
In the mid- to late ’90s, the states enjoyed healthy revenue streams
and almost universally cut taxes and increased spending, including on
programs mandated by the federal government (like Medicaid and
standardized testing). Now, as the economy enters a second year of
doldrums, the states — 49 of which are constitutionally required to
keep a balanced budget, unlike the federal government—are paying the
price for their earlier optimism. Nor does the horizon look
particularly rosy, thanks to the federal budget policy being pursued
by the Bush administration. With the president calling not only for
elimination of the dividend tax, but an acceleration of the 2001 tax
cuts, states are not likely to see more revenue any time soon."
In These Times 03/10/03 (Source -
Arts Journal)
03/09/03 The Netherlands of Arts
Funding - Dutch government spending on the arts is impressive.
"The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science's staggering $21
billion budget is the largest of any Dutch government agency.
Adjusted to population size, it's roughly equivalent to the military
budget of the United States. The culture ministry spends $400 million
a year directly on the arts — about $25 for every Dutch citizen. But
the free ride may be ending. Recent policy dictates that "artists
must be supported, equipped and stimulated to stir up their spirit of
enterprise," and institutions must now meet minimum targets for
raising private revenues, or risk losing subsidies." The New York Times 03/09/03 (Source - Arts
Journal)
02/24/03 Arts deserve funding for the
economy's sake
Creativity? Check. Inspiration?
Check. Good Business? That Too... "If you can't be convinced that the
arts deserve support for how they enrich our lives, how they feed the
creativity that leads to the genius of high technology and other
endeavors, or how they create a quality of life necessary to attract
and keep a great workforce, consider simple economics." San Jose Mercury-News 02/24/03 (Source - Arts
Journal)
02/23/03 Putting The Corporate Brand On The
Arts The movement towards
corporate support of the arts in the face of dwindling public funding
is nothing new in the US, but the overt nature of the partnerships
has been ratcheting up considerably in recent times. From new concert
halls named for corporations like Disney and Verizon, to publicly
touted partnerships between theatres and clothiers, the arts seem to
be increasingly going the way of the sporting world in terms of
corporate culture and product placement. Not everyone likes the idea,
but in an era when most cultural organizations are gasping for
breath, few have the temerity to argue against any system which will
provide them with new revenue streams. Boston Globe 02/23/03 (Source - Arts Journal)
02/20/03 New Mexico Legislature Votes To
Restore Arts Education
- The New Mexico House of
Representatives has voted unanimously to restore arts education in
public schools. "Arts education has been shown to enhance many
aspects of a child's intellect, including critical thinking and
creative problem solving," said the bill's sponsor. "The bill was
supported by members of both parties." Santa Fe New Mexican 02/19/03
Click - House Votes to Support Fine
Arts In Schools
02/05/03 Thinking Big In
Toronto - "The Toronto Arts Council yesterday unveiled an
ambitious, 10-year program designed to raise the level of awareness
of the arts in Toronto and, more important, to put the city's
struggling arts organizations on a more financially stable keel." A
recent study revealed that there is a gap of almost CAN$45 million
between what arts groups in the city have, and what they need to
function. The new program will create an ambitious and large-scale
fundraising structure which will hopefully close that gap by 2012, if
all goes according to plan. The
Globe & Mail (Toronto) 02/05/03 (Source - Arts Journal)
Schools
Schedules Sideline the Arts
Closing the
Doors on Afterschool Programs
Americans Overwhelmingly
Want Music Education In Schools
