The Los Angeles Times reports that the Los Angeles Fund for Public Education (co-founded by Superintendent John Deasy and some of the city’s wealthiest citizens) will contribute $750,000 to revive arts education in that city’s public schools. Teachers will receive training to integrate arts education into math, social studies, and other areas of the curriculum.
This is a sad response to the gutting of arts education in the LA schools.
Integrating the arts into other subjects is a ruse. Children need to sing and dance and learn to play musical instruments. They won’t do that in math class or history. Eliminating arts teachers is not the way to revive arts education.
Bear in mind that the district has cut funding for the arts by 41% since 2008 and currently devotes only 2% of elementary school time to the arts.
The story makes the following points:
“After five years of brutal cuts in arts education, Los Angeles Unified is gearing up to bring more music, dance, theater and visual arts into core academic classes under a three-year, $750,000 initiative to be announced Thursday by the Los Angeles nonprofit group funding the effort.”
And this:
“In October, the L.A. school board directed the district to craft a five-year “Arts at the Core” plan that would nearly double such funding to its 2007-08 level of $32 million. Among other things, the plan aims to restore some traveling arts teachers, who spread their time among multiple elementary schools; their numbers have been slashed by half to just over 200 last year.”
And this:
“The ratio of middle school students to art teachers in the district is 413 to 1, compared with 68 to 1 in Beverly Hills Unified…”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
As a specialist (physical educator) and an advocate for the arts, physical education, and music this definitely a ruse. There are not enough hours in the teaching day for regular ed. teachers to “integrate” the arts into their lessons as it should be integrated. Integrating the arts into your lessons should occur on some level however students benefit greatly from a rich and well-rounded education that includes the arts, physical education, and music. This occurs only if you hire well-trained specialist to have time to teach their area of expertise within the school day as well offer some before school and after school opportunities as they currently do.
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In Chicago, parent and unpaid activist Matt Famer gave a great speech calling out the hypocrisy of the Chicago School Board in general, and one of the appointed members of Chicago’s appointed school board, Hyatt Hotels executive Penny Pritzke, in particular.
Pritzker and all the un-elected Board members come from the business community and have no background or experience in education. Unlike out here in Los Angeles, the process is totally corrupt and undemocratic.
The Chicago schools’ “CEO”—they don’t call him / her a Superintendent—is a virtual dictator, with the unelected school board acting like a rubber stamp legislature in a third world dictatorship. All of this is ultimately under the control of the mayor, the dictator over the CEO’s totally undemocratic system. The board meetings themselves are a sham where the rules have recently been changing to allow less and less opportunities for regular citizen-taxpayers and parents to speak—not that anything that regular citizens and parents say means a damn to those plutocrats sitting up on the dais
A journalist and lawyer, Matt “cross-examines” Pritzker for gutting the arts, music, dance, P.E., etc. from the public schools, and for Pritzker saying in an interview that all middle- and lower-income students need in their education is low-level skills for the low-level jobs they will eventually have as adults.
Farmer further points out that while Pritzker voted to close the libraries at traditional public schools—with Pritzker characterizing them as a waste of money for middle- or lower-income students—she simultaneously spear-headed a multi-million-dollar campaign to provide a state-of-the-art library and arts program at the school that services her own children and the children of the wealthy community in which Pritzker lives.
Farmer’s speech is a classic, and must be viewed by all:
You got Matt!!!! Bring the fire!!!
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thanks for posting this piece. this sort of thing makes me so angry i feel nauseous. while there is a legitimate role for groups such as The Music Center, its important to make distinctions among the three roles of arts education providers in school programs–certified arts teacher, certified non-arts teachers (classroom teachers) and community arts providers (teaching artists, art galleries, museums, symphonies). to think that a vibrant arts education program with 100s of qualified, certified teachers is somehow being replaced by $150,000 grant in a city the size of LA is just laughable.
we already know how to deliver high quality arts instruction to school children. its called art education and music education, taught by highly qualified, certified music and art specialists, with adequate instructional time and resources. not with grant programs that “train” classroom teachers by sending them to a non-profit arts organization staffed by non-certified arts providers who have little to no real teaching experience.
we are going through the same sort of sham “arts program” transition here in Lansing, MI, and its offensive to the terrific art and music teachers in the Lansing School District who have devoted their professional lives to providing art and music instruction to our city’s children. there are roles for all three members of the arts education troika, but successful arts instruction requires the presence of certified arts teachers in the schools. these “programs” are merely end runs around real arts education.
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As often happens when these programs are being discussed, school librarians are not mentioned. ALL of these programs enrich children.
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Another problem is that often attempts to integrate the arts into Englsih or Social Studies or Science, just means you are watering down the content in those areas – which is not very robust at the elementary and middle school level, to begin with. Integrating the arts into core subjects sounds good, but it usually means making a poster or pulling graphics into a Power Point.
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They pundits say they support the arts as important in the curriculum and then they *&^%$. I am more than disgusted. The policy makers are more than DUH…
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I was so sure, when I became a music teacher fifteen years ago, that we were past this type of thinking.
The Fugees have a rap in one of their songs about “metal detectors replace music classes,” and I always told myself “wow, how nice that we’ve moved beyond that.”
I guess not.
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I really am a Polyanna fool.
At least I can play hymns at the nursing home if this type thing hits NC.
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My mom, who teaches elementary music, has been told that her hours may be cut up to half because they want students to have more computer time. My mom has taught in a Title 1 school for 18 years, and has done a lot of amazing things with her students, and they love her. I see them run up to her all over in the community, and I teach many of her fellow students, who also adore her. But the stupid computer is apparently more important.
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What state?
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I’ve been teaching art at an LAUSD middle school for twelve years now. Over the years I’ve heard the same refrain from my academic colleagues: They used to integrate artistic endeavor and hands on learning with their lessons but the growing importance of high stakes test prep has whittled those experiences down to nothing. How can LAUSD reconcile this new arts integration proposal with the outsized importance of standardized assessments tied to evaluations? The district can’t have it both ways.
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Diane,
Is this ‘leadership’ taken pages from Bloomberg’s playbook? That is, cut regular funding then pump in donations from the rich.
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I was wondering that too. Is this part of a larger script that is going to soon trickle into other places?
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guess who is on the board of The Music Center?
Eli Broad.
you can’t make this stuff up. . .
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Not that the arts are not important in other states, but how ironic is this !?!
LA is one of the performing arts capitals of the United States (film, theater, dance, Hollywood).
Where are the major production studios and major actors out there standing up for the arts in the context of public education?
Who will be our next Meryl Streep? Our next Debbie Allen or James Cameron? Our next Philip Seymour Hoffman?
Hollywood has always been a liberal progressive community when it comes to imagery. . . now is the time for this community – thespians and producers alike – to step forth and defend with substance the arts in public education. That includes everyone form the A lists to the D lists. . .
Matt Damon has been among the very few, not that celebrities can save even a big part of the world, but they have access to media the way most of us do not.
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We cannot fault them for putting up the money. It is how little it will do. This is for only 4 schools. It is $1.25/student district wide. Mark Slavkin and his group was in Fresno recently for two days and Slavkin hosted one of the breakout sessions and I was in it. Yes, Deasy is in that group. Yes, it is good that Slavkin’s group is doing something even though I do not remember them fighting the cuts. I might be wrong. CORE-CA is always for years commenting in detail on the budget and where the money goes and the history of the spending and revenue/student which is what it takes to pay for programs and employees + operational costs. My friend Antonio Villacis whose organization Community School of the Arts Foundation is now in 18 schools and 10 more coming on line with the assistance of a high placed politician for almost no money. CORE-CA has constantly assisted Antonio in his mission for arts and physical activity. He uses Zumba for the students, parents and teachers and they love it. He is also in a special education school and lots changed when those students were exposed to Zumba and the arts program which is totally integrated into the present curriculum. CORE-CA supports arts from the earliest age for all children. Arts is also the highest productivity and lowest overall cost of assisting hard core criminals in prison, Youth Authority, county jails and K-12 to solve many problems with violence, lack of identity, personal integrity and many other problems in those settings. Ask L.A. County Sheriff Baca how education and life skills training is working out in the L.A. County Jails and you will be surprised at the answer. My friend Dr. Moore of the Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) which works with the sheriff is taking putting arts in the county jails to Sheriff Baca and his undersheriffs with that responsibility. CORE-CA works with the CAB and Sheriff Baca on criminal justice issues and how they relate to K-12 failures and how to repair the damage done and hopefully most will not come back to the Sheriff’s Hotel (jail). Education and life skills is already working well. CORE-CA believes that the addition of the arts in this program would increase those who do not come back. This should be the goal of all of us.
Amazingly, Boeing, Northrup-Grumman and JPL are also behind arts in schools and even earlier. We heard them state this at an Assembly Select Committee on Education and the Aerospace Industry at Northrup-Grumman. We almost fell over when we heard the representative from Boeing state that Boeing believes that children need art from when they are born. We do not disagree. They all also stated that without the arts their business’s are in long term peril as they have to have people in all positions who can think outside of the box to produce those satellites and airplanes which are safer and more efficient for the future. We agree again. Yet, amazed to hear this from the military industrial complex not from the education community instead schools are cutting the arts at a great loss to all of us.
Let’s thank Slavkin and challenge them to do more with less and to tell all the others “Now is the Time to Put Up.” Not only in money privately but in helping push legislation which makes arts a permanent part of the education process as being necessary for a rounded person and education. With all the extra money LAUSD has and is coming in there is no more excuse. You have to set priorities. What are theirs? We are soon going to find out who this new board is.
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Here’s a twist to the reason why arts education is getting cut. Participation in the arts keeps many struggling students in school, especially in high school. However, if the school is high performing, it’s better for the school’s scores for those students to drop out. Therefore, there is a disincentive to have arts programs that keep these students in school. I didn’t make this up…..I heard this from a reliable source. When scores are all that matters, student needs are ignored.
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It just so happens that one of the most remarkable successes for arts in education is on display at the Marquez Elementary Charter School in Pacific Palisades which is part of LAUSD. It’s the AMERICAN HISTORY MUSICALS program at Marquez Elementary Charter School in Pacific Palisades. Created by teacher, Jeff Lantos, over a decade ago, this program teaches 5th grade American history with five original musicals that cover the 5th grade curriculum from the landing of the Pilgrims (PLYMOUTH 2.0) to the Louisiana Purchase/Lewis and Clark Expeditions (HELLO LOUISIANA) to the writing of the constitution (MIRACLE IN PHILADELPHIA) to the birth of the Industrial Revolution (WATER & POWER) to the civil rights movement (forgot the title), all performed annually by 120 5th graders. We have included these shows in the festival (Festival of New American Musicals) each year because they are so incredibly entertaining. Also because they illustrate how the arts can educate and illuminate. We even sent them to New York to perform in the New York Musical Theater Festival (NYMF). A couple of years ago the UCLA School of Education did a study comparing the retention of American history at Marquez to 6 other schools with comparable economics and
demographics. The results: Marquez kids retain twice as much history. (You sing it, you remember it!) This program has continued despite cutbacks through ongoing support from both the school administration and very dedicated parents.
Look into it. You’ll thank me.
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Sounds great. The arts and history are and always will be intertwined. Most certainly, it takes a very special teacher with special skills to pull off a complete musical. What is being proposed by Deasy’s Fund for Education is certainly not going to be anything close to what you are describing. Putting on full musicals, teaching drawing, art appreciation and learning how to play a band or orchestra instrument takes a highly skilled professional. We forgot the reasons for art in any society… and that is emotional and cultural expression and the appreciation of beauty in all forms. The plan for LAUSD is using art as a means to an end……..increasing test scores. While higher academic performance is indeed a positive outcome of arts education, it should never be the driving force behind it.
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As a music teacher, I’m constantly defending the fact that music is a stand-alone subject. It involves theory, history, aural skills, technique, and much more. The idea that this could be integrated into another subject is laughable. Arts teachers (as well as librarians and P.E. teachers) must deal with the consequences of an educational system that creates subject hierarchies. One thing is certain, I’m tired of always ending up on the bottom.
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In LAUSD, fewer students are “allowed” to take an elective class. If they are classified as long term English learners, they take more English. Math scores too low, take a math intervention elective. Nevermind all the research that shows electives keep kids in school and build English and math skills. Nevermind the push from private industry to add the arts to STEM education and make STEAM. Gutting the schools, planting seeds for dropping out, offering new business opportunities for those interested in big ed dollars and nifty tax deductions for some of the very donors that pushed for the death of arts education is Superintendent Deasy’s agenda. Let’s hope the new school board will fight to reverse these injustices.
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Coaching teachers how to integrate painting, drawing, singing and dancing into their math, English, history and science classes does NOT represent a fresh commitment to the arts by LAUSD and Superintendent Deasy. What it does show, however, is a cynical belief that the public will view this little publicity stunt as a meaningful demonstration that the District is determined to bring the arts back to our schools.
Baloney. If Deasy and the school board really wanted to support arts education, they would reinstate the teachers they let go and bring school art programs back to their pre- “budget crisis” levels.
As long as we’re slaves to the tyranny of standardized test scores, the arts will never occupy their proper place in our children’s education. Which is more important – an appreciation of Van Gogh’s “Irises” or the area of the canvas upon which it was painted?
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That is true.
Here’s my data from 15 years in 5 states with music Ed:
117 notes from students thanking me
164 student drawn pictures saying “I love music”
89 notes from parents thanking me
2 grants
8 write ups in the paper celebrating the music of children
1 public radio broadcast of children making music at a public school
2 news features of students making music
And that is just what I have saved. I use literacy, math, science, technology and social studies connections in my lessons.
My students create music and they love it.
How can a classroom teacher provide that from workshop training? I am proficient in guitar, piano and passed my tests in all areas for teaching band-
Who’s gonna play the hokey pokey in whatever key best fits on the piano at the moment when the technology for recorded music is not working?
Even with the invention of drum machines, everyone knows a real drummer is better.
Whatever. Real art will find a way. And the kids who are denied it in school will find it.
But they are more likely to give back to the community who gives it to them.
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And another thing; Marilyn Manson once said in an interview “you’d better start raising your children or I will do it for you.” Well, exactly. It is human nature to seek community. So if a kid doesn’t find it at school but does find it at the mall with other kids wearing hoodies, that’s where he/she will go. So, how do you give back, once you grow out of adolescence, to the mall and the kids who stood around wearing hoodies? Well, maybe if you all attended the same school where community was fostered and real development as a HUMAN was fostered through a balanced curriculum, arts, sports, social activities, then you would have the memories that would lead you to wanting to offer these opportunities to your own kids one day.
I am so sorry that some people see the wish for community as oppression.
I’m glad my parents were liberals, in many ways. I am glad I rode the bus that also served the housing project (I lived in an historic district). I am glad I was the only white girl in the chorus. I am glad I have FB friends I would otherwise never have met but for public school.
I am so sorry the public school role in community is struggling. I am sorry for my children and for our country.
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You know, as a music teacher I would like to say something thoughtful and profound. But all I can keep wondering is how these reformers can say these kinds of things and keep a straight face. Is there a special class they take over at Broad?
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“Integrating the arts into other subjects is a ruse”
You are so right! Testing has narrowed the curriculum so much. All I teach is literacy and math. I’m told to embed and layer the arts in literacy. I’m told to embed and layer social studies in literacy. When I hear the word embed, I want to scream.
A grant providing visual and performing arts was cancelled during school instructional time. The reason – declining school test scores were blamed on the 45 minutes a week of dance.
We do have a district provided music program at my school. Two great teachers work with 4th and 5th graders. This year for the first time they performed their end of the year concert, which usually happens in the evening for families, at an assembly for the whole school. It was magic. Kids in my class who never sit still were mesmerized. Everyone was smiling. What pride and joy my colleagues and I felt at the discipline, confidence, and accomplishment of these young people.
My school has about 75% Title 1 identified families. These families are constantly being challenged to feed, cloth, and get medical care for their children. Unless they have extraordinary drive and tenacity, many don’t have the income or time to pursue private music, dance, and arts programs.
The arts are essential.
They give us heart.
They must not be watered down.
They must be fully funded.
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“They must be fully funded.” By whom? Who should fully fund them?
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Should read “supported” not “funded”. Belief in the value of instruction by experts in the arts is the first step. I mean experts teaching the children, not experts teaching the teachers to teach the children. Training classroom teachers to integrate, embed, layer is another setup for failure.
At my school, many of us have advocated, for years, alternative ways to hire teachers of the arts and ways for us to teach the arts. We spend a lot of money on visiting teachers for our PLC work. We have argued for using that money to hire a permanent part time teacher of the arts to instruct the students when we are in PLC meetings. We have argued for having grade-level rotations, where each teacher takes 1 subject of interest (music, art, dance, theater) and teaches it in depth to all the children at the grade level. We have spoken up, at School Site Council meetings, at Governance meetings, and at Staff meetings.
Unfortunately, the climate of fear around test scores, Adequate Yearly Progress, and Academic Performance Index, has resulted in a stifling of creative thinking and encouraged a risk-adverse culture at my school. This year, the only arts instruction that my students got was a $180 grant from my PTA which I used to hire an artist for 4 drawing lessons. Pathetic.
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The LAUSD Elementary Arts Program, launched in 1998 and at its height (though still far from full implementation) in 2008, was always envisioned as a resource to encourage and help classroom teachers integrate the arts after learning foundational skills and participating in model arts lessons. Where it has worked, over time, because of enlightened school leadership, it has been stunningly successful.
However, high-stakes testing and the narrowing of the curriculum has made it extremely difficult for most teachers and principals to fully embrace the program. Good intentions aside, that will not change until the data hounds at the District are reined in.
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Let me throw out one more piece of information. The L.A. Fund will tolerate no criticism by activists who question the motive of their funders and donors. When an L.A. activist questioned the quality of the food donated through them to the Breakfast in the Classroom program, the L.A. Fund tracked his I.P. address through twitter and attempted to discredit him. I kid you not. You can see my tweets about this as I took a screenshot of the event.
In other words, when big money is in collusion with big egos, true arts education will not reach the children with the least access to it.
Martha Infante
Los Angeles Teacher
@avalonsensei
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It’s class warfare. Rich people telling the rest of us what is good enough for our kids.
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If this is the return of art to LA schools then ketchup is indeed a vegetable.
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I saw so many gushing headlines about this story that I thought something awesome was happening. So sad to read the truth. This is absolutely not enough.
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I’m moving over a great COMMENT from Leonie
Haimson’s blog / article on LAUSD being Ground
Zero in the battle against privatizaion, and
Haimson’s analysis of the battles in LAUSD to
lower class size:
http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2013/07/los-angeles-ground-zero-in-fight-over.html
Here’s the COMMENT… the third one down:
———————————————————————————
redqueeninla said…
Excellent, spot-on debriefing.
There is not a parent in the room or across
the district who could possibly be fooled by
the Big Lie that ‘reducing class size is just
a personnel issue’. It is nothing short of
surreal that anyone entertains this notion
for an instant. Let alone votes in support of
it for years.
Children need to be taught, by human teachers,
who care about them so that the children can
form a connection with that teacher. This is an
impossibility in a classroom with too many
children. period.
Period!!!! No one thinks otherwise, as evidenced
by all the walking with their feet parents have
been doing for schools where their child has a
functional teacher “in front of them”.
The real question is:
Who could have the temerity to suggest some
special children don’t actually have the same
need as others to low class-size?
Who could possibly have the audacity to suggest
that what’s critical for their own kid — low class
size — is not important for another’s child???!
This notion of “special-ness” needs some long,
serious close looking at.
July 14, 2013 at 3:01 PM
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