Are the Arts "Academic?"

I've been thinking over the years about having an elementary charter school for the arts. Last spring I took a more serious look into it - visiting other charter schools and interviewing the movers and shakers behind a couple of successful ones to learn about their personal involvement. It was exciting to find a group of eager funders who wanted to put money towards seeding some Los Angeles charter schools. They were actively recruiting founders who didn't have education backgrounds. Really, it was surprising.

With a masters in education, principal certification, and teacher appraiser certification, I thought I was a shoe-in. Ha! My idea for an art-based school couldn't even make it past the initial screening process. I was told straight out: art is not academic, it isn't college-preparatory, it can't get funded. Why would you waste time teaching creativity in school?

My, my.

So, no matter that I who have worked in schools and taught thousands of kids, successfully proposed to a school board and implemented a middle school pilot program integrating art across the curriculum, and have a husband who is a school administrator, was told I didn't have an "academic" school proposal. No wonder it's so easy to cut school art programs when the guys at the top haven't a clue about the academics of art education.

Friends, we have a lot of work to do to if we're going to change this huge misperception.

By the way, if you want to to keep the little bit of funding the legislature has given towards art education for the last three years, there's a "thank you" letter getting sent around. Please sign it. And kindly ask your friends to sign it, too.

Give your legislator a hug. With the latest dismal Wall Street news, there will surely be some very hard choices ahead. Let's try and keep the funding we've got!

Here's the link to California Alliance for the Arts' Thank You Letter. If the link doesn't work, copy and paste it into your browser. Send you letter now!

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5155/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=710