I read with dismay this blog entry posted on Arts for LA website. Now the poor Los Angeles School District is facing an additional awful budget crunch this next school year. Out of the remaining 345 elementary art teachers, 173 will be cut. That's 50%! I thought it was dire last year when I left at spring break, but I think this is the end of the arts program that took a decade to build in the district.
Make sure to read the blog post directly below the one I've linked to. The writer is a dance teacher who figured out that it only costs $20.00 per pupil to have her at an elementary school. Quite a contrast to the $200.00 per pupil it costs to have her at a high school! I've always said a district gets more bang for its art dollar by keeping an elementary art teacher who reaches every child in the school, rather than the few who take an art elective in high school. It's surprising how much impact the one elementary art teacher can have in one period a week.
Maybe it needs repeating...kids love art!
http://www.artsforla.org/node/681/774#comment-774
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