Are Some Students More Deserving of Art Education Than Others?

I recently had a conversation with a teacher at an at-risk school in a low-income area about their lack of art education. She voiced an opinion that I've heard in similar locales over the years. She assumed elementary kids in the well-to-do areas of the city had art -- that those parents would insist on art teaching at their schools or pay for it themselves.

It's sad that we've come to expect/accept that kids in our poorer neighborhoods don't "deserve" to have art for one reason or another, the same as the other district students. The excuses can range from financial, lack of parental push, or most usually the notion that the kids have to spend all their time preparing for the tests and couldn't possibly spare a moment for such stuff. Isn't it sad that the teacher serving the at-risk students believes/accepts that she and her school receive second-rate treatment because of who they are?

This is not idle opinion. I was pretty shocked while serving on the board of an alternative high school to hear it voiced publicly in the mid 1990's by a city representative, from the mayor's office no less. No joke. At a large group gathering, we were discussing the possibility of going for a bond to remodel the ancient building housing the school. Over the past few meetings we'd already come to the conclusion that we could perhaps halt the drop-out rate if we installed an art track at the school. We were pretty excited about it. It was going to be first-class.

However, at this meeting to discuss the bond idea, the city rep stated frankly, "Why should the icky kids deserve this?" I was stunned, and embarrassed for her. I've never forgotten that. Because these were the "icky" kids (her exact word, not mine), she didn't feel they should have equal -- or perhaps better than -- the "good" kids at the districts' three regular high schools, who already had art programs. The implication was that the alternative school should be a punishment center without decent facilities or "fun" programs, I guess.

The good news was, we went forward with the bond, the school was beautifully remodeled, an exciting art program (including glass blowing) installed, and attendance rocketed. The alternative school truly became an alternative school -- kids from around the district voluntarily asked to attend so they could enjoy an alternative school experience outside the typical big high school experience. Very gratifying.

I've had the blessed experience to work in three school districts that really did right by their low-end schools. I chose to teach art at the lowest-scoring schools in those districts because I believe art can really make a difference in many ways for those particular students. The districts also believed that it was important to include art, and built beautiful schools in those neighborhoods, not subjecting those students and teachers to substandard buildings. Plus, they (we) enjoyed well-funded art programs.

Those schools were populated by kids facing huge odds. But they were really vibrant places to teach. I should add, they were exhausting, too. But the staffs were incredibly talented and dedicated, as they often are in such schools. Many of our students won art contests, and I made sure student artwork was continuously displayed. When taught creativity, you couldn't tell the difference between our kids' work and the very affluent ones living at the opposite ends of the districts. They proved themselves to be just as talented and creative when given the same opportunity!