Portland’s Elementary Arts Education Report: One Year Later

Posted on April 2, 2013 by CAN

What a difference a year makes! Last April, the US Department of Education released its first study of arts education in US schools in more than 10 years. With that data and information furnished by Portland’s six school districts, the Creative Advocacy Network brought to light a huge gap between arts education opportunities in Portland’s elementary schools and those available nationally.

Now, just one year later, the Creative Advocacy Network is thrilled to report that access to the arts in Portland’s public schools has markedly improved and, with the passage of the Arts Education & Access Fund, next year 100% of Portland elementary school students will have access to the arts in their public schools.

Here is how arts access for Portland’s children during the 2012-13 school year compares with 2011-12 and the US Department of Education’s 2012 study:

Elementary Schools with Music Education
Portland 2011-2012 58%
Portland 2012-2013 66%
Nationwide 94%

Elementary Schools with Art Education
Portland 2011-2012 18%
Portland 2012-2013 25%
Nationwide 83%

Elementary Schools with NO Access to Art, Music, Dance or Drama
Portland 2011-2012 28%
Portland 2012-2013 19%
Portland 2013-2014 0%
Nationwide 3%

The City of Portland is home to six school districts and 85 public elementary schools serving 34,244 elementary school students. This year 16 Portland elementary schools are unable to offer certified instruction in art, music, dance or drama. And, while we are excited to celebrate the 8 Portland elementary schools that have added arts instruction since last year, we are even more thrilled to report that the passage of the Arts Education & Access Fund will ensure that every Portland elementary school will offer certified arts instruction beginning next year. The Fund will support as many as 70 certified elementary art, music, dance and drama teachers in Portland’s schools.

This week Portland City Council will vote on an ordinance to strengthen the Arts Education & Access Fund by establishing an income threshold for income-earning adults who live in households above the Federal Poverty Level. The Creative Advocacy Network is thankful that the Portland City Council is willing and able to continue improving Portland’s groundbreaking new Arts Education & Access Fund while protecting Portland’s overwhelming support for a critical new investment in arts education and access citywide.

If you have not already paid your arts tax, please remember to file by May 15, 2013. Your $35 will bring the arts to life in Portland’s classrooms and communities.

Portland City Council approves Arts Education and Access Fund

Posted on June 27, 2012 by CAN

Portland City Council approves Arts Education and Access Fund

By Creative Advocacy Network

WED, JUNE 27, 2012 4:46 PM

Portland – Today, City Council referred the Creative Advocacy Network’s (CAN) plan to the November ballot. If approved by voters, the Arts Education and Access Fund will restore arts and music education to every Portland elementary school and improve access to the arts in every classroom and community.

“We must ensure that every student has access to music and the arts,” Mayor Sam Adams said. “And that the riches of Portland’s creative community are available to all of our citizens, regardless of income or neighborhood.”

Portland schools have fallen well behind the national average with only 18% of our elementary schools offering art instruction (compared to 83% nationally) and 58% of our elementary schools offering music (compared to 94% nationally). And, as of 2010, 44% of Portland’s high school students did not graduate with their class.

Research links access to arts and music education to improved test scores, increased graduation rates and college admittance. The numbers are even more dramatic for low-income students and students of color.

And employers point to arts education for developing a workforce equipped with the creative thinking and problem solving skills necessary to compete in a modern economy.

Businesses also rely on a vibrant community to build a competitive workforce. The arts enliven our city. They shape our neighborhoods, expand our educational opportunities, fuel our economy, open our minds, and spark our creativity. They are at the center of who we are.

“I have always believed that sports and the arts play a similar role in the fabric of our community,” said Mike Golub, Chief Operating Officer of the Portland Timbers, who also serves on the Board of the Regional Arts & Culture Council. “They bring people together, they mitigate differences and they create shared experiences for disparate groups of people regardless of age, socioeconomic background, gender or ethnicity.”

The Arts Education and Access Fund is a capped income tax limited to $35 for every income earning resident 18 years of age and older living in households above the federal poverty guidelines.

Funds will go to all schools that serve Portland students within the six Portland school districts (Centennial, David Douglas, Parkrose, Portland Public, Reynolds, and Riverdale) to pay for certified arts or music education teachers for Kindergarten through 5th grade (K-5).

As Val Ellett, a teacher at Gilbert Park Elementary pointed out in today’s testimony to City Council, “Music and the arts are the most powerful force a community can invest in.”

Funds will also be distributed to the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) to support grant applications by non-profit Portland arts organizations that demonstrate artistic excellence, provide service to the community, show administrative and fiscal competence and provide a wide range of high quality arts programs to the public.

RACC will also provide grants that will improve access to the arts for K-12 students and for Portland residents in every community. These grants would provide opportunities for students to access the arts such as trips to a museum to learn about history and other cultures or to see a play geared to their age group. Every Portlander would have improved access to free arts events to enjoy with their families regardless of community or income.

Administrative costs associated with this Fund have been capped to ensure that 95% or more of the dollars collected will be invested directly in arts education and arts programs.

An Independent Citizen Oversight committee that is representative of the City’s diverse communities will also be formed to annually review Fund expenditures and report the impact of the Arts Education and Access Fund to the public.

The Creative Advocacy Network (CAN) and the CAN Action Fund are working to restore arts education to our schools and improve access to the arts in Portland. Through research of best practices, in public outreach, and with input from educators, business leaders, elected officials, arts leaders, and the public, a plan has been developed – the Arts Education and Access Fund – which was approved by Portland City Council for the ballot in Portland in November of 2012.

Portland Falls Way Behind in Arts Education

Posted on May 21, 2012 by CAN

Portland Falls Way Behind in Arts Education

A New National Study Highlights Our Critical Shortfalls

Last week, the US Department of Education released its first study of arts education in more than ten years. And while this study reflected what we already know – that arts education opportunities are declining nationally for those who need them most – it also showcased how far behind Portland has fallen.

The study found that across the US, 94% of elementary schools offer music instruction and 83% offer programming in visual arts. In contrast, Portland’s six public school districts, which educate over 33,000 K-5 students annually, only provide music instruction in 58% of elementary schools and visual arts instruction in a mere 18%.

And the rate of decline for arts education in Portland has been shockingly steep. In the last five years Parkrose and Centennial School Districts have cut their arts and music teaching staff by half, while PPS has dropped all arts instruction in 22 schools in just two years.

Today in Portland there are 11,596 children attending schools that do not have any art, dance, drama, and music instruction. With last week’s announcement that 110 teachers at PPS will be cut next year – that number is guaranteed to increase.

The Creative Advocacy Network has partnered with the City of Portland and Portland’s six school districts to restore arts and music education to our elementary schools. We are working to ensure that our children have the same opportunities to imagine and learn and thrive as we did.

But we can’t do it alone. Please donate $15 or more towards our efforts – today. Join us on Facebook and share this information with your friends, and follow us on Twitter.

Together, we can give our children the future they deserve.

CAN Mail: May 17, 2012 Edition

Posted on May 21, 2012 by CAN

Help Us Restore Arts Teachers To Our Schools

And we’ll thank you with a free CAN t-shirt!

Every year in Portland, arts and music teachers are being cut from our schools, leaving our children with fewer opportunities to imagine, to learn and to thrive.

In the last five years, Parkrose and Centennial School Districts have cut their arts and music teaching staff by half, while Portland Public Schools lost all arts instruction in 22 schools in just two years. Today, there are nearly 12,000 Portland children attending schools that do not have any art, dance, drama, or music instruction.

But we can change all that. The Creative Advocacy Network (CAN) is working tirelessly to restore arts and music education to our elementary schools and increase access to arts and culture city-wide with a new public fund for the arts.

Donate $50 or more today and help us return arts and music teachers to every Portland elementary school by 2014. In thanks, we’ll send you a free t-shirt and together we’ll wear our love for arts education with pride.

Don’t have $50? Volunteer instead! Join us at Sunday Parkways, the Rose Parade or your favorite arts event, where you can wear a CAN t-shirt to show your support of the arts and arts education in Portland!

Parents and Teachers Speak Up to Save Arts Education

Posted on May 3, 2012 by CAN

Jefferson High School Music Room – Photo: Eugenie Frerichs

With each passing day the movement to save and restore arts education in our schools gains strength and this week, Portland Public School parents and teachers fueled the effort with their passionate activism. CAN is working to finalize a long-term solution which will restore arts and music education in our schools for the 2013-14 school year and beyond.

In the meantime, we stand by the parents, teachers, students, elected officials and school district leaders who are working to save the arts today.

To read more about the powerful activism that has brought city-wide attention to the loss of arts and music teachers in our schools, check out this Portland Mercury Blog and the effort to keep arts teachers at Buckman Arts Focus Elementary School.

And to hear from just some of the activists who make up the CAN Movement, read on.

“We have a terrific arts program that works; we’d like to keep it working, and we believe that starts with retaining our amazing arts staff.” (Buckman Elementary School Parent)

“I have been receiving your emails and appreciate the work your organization is doing to improve arts funding as well as expand the role of the arts in our schools. I am concerned about the teacher cuts for the next school year.” (Retired teacher)

“I have been very impressed with how motivated these parents are and how we all understand that we cannot just fund these positions but as a community we must work together to create sustainable arts programming.” (Current Art Teacher)

“What CAN is doing is a wonderful thing.” (PPS Parent)

Together, we CAN! Thank you for fueling the movement.

CAN Mail: April 2012 Edition

Posted on April 17, 2012 by CAN

Startling new statistics: Portland’s Elementary Schools Report. We thank you for your action.

Last week, CAN released powerful new statistics that showcase how far Portland has fallen behind the nation with regard to arts education. And you responded with a flood of donations and committments to volunteer. We thank you for your action and we share your concern.

Today in Portland there are 11,596 children attending schools that do not have any art, dance, drama, or music instruction.

Please help us break the news and build the movement to restore arts and music teachers to our schools. We invite you to repost or retweet our Blog, share our story in your newsletter or spread the word through your own e-mail networks.

The Creative Advocacy Network has partnered with the City of Portland and Portland’s six school districts to restore arts and music education to our schools and ensure that our children have the same opportunities to imagine and learn and thrive as we did.

Join the movement today and help us keep arts and music alive in our schools.

Grammy award winning jazz vocalist – and Portland native – Esperanza Spalding speaks about the importance of arts education in our schools.

Watch the video.

Students who lack arts education have lower GPA scores.

Photo:

Kimberly Herbert

New NEA study reveals: The arts can close the achievement gap for low-income students.

“At-risk teenagers or young adults with a history of intensive arts experiences show achievement levels closer to, and in some cases exceeding, the levels shown by the general population studied,” a team of scholars writes in a new National Endowment for the Arts Research Report. “These findings suggest that in-school or extracurricular programs offering deep arts involvement may help to narrow the gap in achievement levels among youth.”

This newly published research from the NEA establishes that while students from the lower end of the socioeconomic ladder tend to do less well in school than those from more upscale families, this is not true for those students who participate heavily in the arts.

The primary focus of the report is on teenagers and young adults in the bottom 25 percent of the socioeconomic scale (as measured by family income, parental employment and the parents’ level of education).

“…Students who had arts-rich experiences in high school showed higher overall grade point averages than did students who lacked those experiences,” the researchers write. What’s more, those higher grades paid off. Disadvantaged high school students heavily involved in cultural activities enrolled in competitive colleges — and in four-year colleges in general — at higher rates than their counterparts who avoided the arts.

In Portland, where 56% of our public school students are economically disadvantaged and 41% of Portland’s high school students do not graduate with their peers, this study is particularly relevant.

Cities take the lead in investing in arts education. Boston. Dallas. Seattle.

Across the country, city governments are stepping up to support arts education initiatives in our public schools and communities. The Arts Expansion Initiative (BPS Arts Education Announcement Video) in Boston is a collaboration of the Mayor’s Office, the city school district, arts organizations and local and national funders. And it works. Today, nine out of ten elementary and middle school students in Boston are receiving weekly arts education, up from 67% three years ago.

A similar collaboration in Dallas, Thriving Minds is a citywide initiative committed to making creative learning a part of the education of every Dallas student – in and out of school. Dallas is the only city in the country offering this level of comprehensive creative learning opportunities citywide on a year-round basis, and the support from the City helps makes this possible.

Closer to home, a partnership was developed in 2008 in Seattle between the city, the arts commission, and the public schools to guarantee that all Seattle students benefit from arts education. The City has invested money each year in the partnership, helping to install a district-level music specialist and a community art liaison to coordinate with the city’s arts community.

“We view arts education as a catalyst for renewed energy in schools, increased engagement by students, and improved school choices for families. Over the long term it will enrich our young people, our schools, our neighborhoods, and our economy.” writes Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

“Over the long term [arts education] will enrich our young people, our schools, our neighborhoods, and our economy.”

- Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

CAN Mail: November 2011 Edition

Posted on November 16, 2011 by CAN

The arts enhance every aspect of education from reading to critical thinking, social skills and motivation.

(Photo by Zac Goodwin, Courtesy of The Right Brain Initiative)

CAN partners with schools in Portland to restore arts and music education.

Working in partnership with Centennial, David Douglas, Parkrose, Portland Public, Reynolds and Riverdale School Districts, CAN’s proposed new public fund will restore arts education for every K-5 student by funding certified arts and music classroom instruction in every Portland elementary school.

CAN’s plans to increase public funding for the arts in Portland’s classrooms and communities will reach all K-12 students across our city when the proposal is referred to and approved by Portland voters in November 2012. But, through a partnership with the City of Portland’s six school districts, the investment in over 33,000 elementary school students will be especially game-changing.

Based on 2010 staffing levels in the K-5 classrooms across our city, 77% of today’s 5th graders will complete elementary school without ever having attended an art class.

To learn more about CAN’s proposal to fund arts instruction for every Portland elementary school student and increase our city’s investments in classroom and community-based creative learning opportunities for students of every age, please join the conversation at Facebook/theArtsCAN and Twitter@theArtsCAN.

You’re Invited!

To an Artful Evening of Appreciation.

Please join CAN and the CAN Action Fund in celebrating our amazing accomplishments in 2011 and the success that your support has made possible:

December 7th, 2011

5:30 – 7:00 PM

The Armory Mezzanine

128 NW Eleventh Avenue Portland, Oregon

View our online invitation and RSVP today!

An Artful Evening of Appreciation!

Join CAN at a special December 18th matinee performance of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker and save 30% off tickets as a CAN supporter!

Just follow this link and use our special offer code: CANCAN

Our members make it happen:

Fueling the movement and shaping the future of the arts in Portland

CAN welcomes our newest member organizations: Do Jump! Extremely Physical Theatre, Friends of Chamber Music, Hollywood Theatre, Portland Youth Philharmonic & Tears of Joy Theatre.

Leading the movement, our nearly 60 member organizations do more than write checks. They provide space at their events to raise public awareness, ad space in programs, and even host information about CAN on their web sites such as this wonderful page that Friends of Chamber Music recently posted: http://focm.org/about/CAN

The support we receive from these visionary arts and culture organizations not only fuels the movement with vital funding and outreach, it inspires business and community leaders alike to support CAN’s efforts. Together, we will restore and strengthen creativity and culture in our classrooms and communities.

To join the movement today, please visit http://theartscan.org/get-involved/donate or email keith@theArtsCAN.org.

Friends of Chamber Music’s wonderful recognition of CAN on their web site.

CAN Mail: June 2011 Edition

Posted on June 14, 2011 by CAN

Arts and arts education need additional dedicated and reliable funding.

Title: Pod

Year: 2002

Artist: Pete Beeman

We CAN in 2012: Establish a new public fund for the arts in Portland!

Here at CAN we believe that the arts are more than just a luxury. That in fact, they are a necessity for the livability of our city – shaping our neighborhoods, encouraging creativity in our kids, bolstering economic development and inspiring the innovation that keeps Portland vital.

Professional arts and music experiences and creative learning opportunities remain out of reach for many, in our communities and our classrooms. In fact, the public funding that supports these experiences in metropolitan regions across the country is markedly lower here in Portland – less than half of the national average. It is clear that without a significant increase in dedicated and stable public funding, our children will face a public education seriously lacking in art and music, while income limits arts and cultural access for thousands.

Recent polling revealed that 77% of Portland residents support the idea that arts and arts education need additional dedicated and reliable funding to serve the public. In 2012, CAN will make it happen by proposing a ground-breaking new public funding stream to increase access to arts and culture for every Portland visitor and resident, make free arts and culture experiences available to every school age-child in their classrooms and communities and strengthen our highest-quality arts and culture institutions.

Join the movement today. Together we CAN!

President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities Study Released: “Reinvesting in Arts Education – Winning America’s Future Through Creative Schools”

The President’s Committee on the arts and the Humanities released its report “Reinvesting in Arts Education: Winning America’s Future Through Creative Schools” this month. The first federal analysis of arts education data of its kind in over a decade, the report analyzes recent data to make the case for arts education as an effective tool in whole-school reform, and increasing student engagement and academic achievement. At a time where access to arts education is at a low point in many of our nation’s schools, the report also presents evidence that building creativity-rich schools is vital to preparing students for success in the knowledge and innovation economy.

The report recognizes the powerful role that arts education strategies can play in closing the achievement gap, improving student engagement, and building creativity and innovative thinking skills. And further confirms that arts education is an essential component of a complete and competitive education for our children.

The report can be downloaded at the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities web site.

President Barack Obama drops by the President’s Committee on Arts and Humanities meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.

(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

A challenging, rewarding and fun musical experience for all young musicians.

(Photo: Metropolitan Youth Symphony)

Our Members make our work possible: CAN Welcomes New Member Organization Metropolitan Youth Symphony

Metropolitan Youth Symphony is dedicated to offering a challenging, rewarding and fun musical experience for all young musicians. Their ensembles are designed to accommodate players of all levels of experience and ability. They offer students a chance to explore different musical styles with chamber and specialty ensembles. Musicians are placed in ensembles by playing ability, not by age, so that all students can progress at their own pace.

For details on joining the movement as a member organization in support of a new dedicated public fund for the arts, please visit
http://theartscan.org/get-involved/donate or email keith@theArtsCAN.org.

Volunteers are key to our success: Join CAN in building the movement!

As CAN builds the movement for a dedicated and sustainable public fund for the arts by 2012, it’s our volunteers who are making the difference: whether helping spread the word at outreach events, supporting our efforts around the office, or simply promoting the cause through social media.

Opportunities abound to help build the movement! Just contact
keith@theArtsCAN.org for more information on volunteer opportunities, including these upcoming outreach events:

June 18, 19 – PHAME Academy: Grease!

June 25, 26 – Hand2Mouth Theatre: Risk / Reward Festival of New Performance

July 21 – Portland Art Spark by RACC

August 5-7 Pickathon Indie Roots Music Festival

September 1 – Oregon Symphony Waterfront Concert

CAN’s volunteers are key to building the movement!

CAN Mail: May 2011 Edition

Posted on May 16, 2011 by CAN

(photo credit)

The arts are transformational for schools and for students.

The role of the arts in educating America. Conclusions from the Fifth Annual National Arts Policy Roundtable.

Last fall, 30 top-level decision makers and thought leaders from government, business, education, and the arts gathered at the Sundance Resort and Preserve for the Fifth Annual Americans for the Arts National Arts Policy Roundtable, to discuss this year’s theme – The Role of the Arts in Educating America for Great Leadership and Economic Strength.

Their conclusions are profiled in a new report (pdf) issued this week by Americans for the Arts that calls for individuals across the public and private sector to recognize the arts as the transformational tools they are for making schools stronger and students more successful.

The business and public policy communities are building consensus that if the nation is to succeed, an education steeped in the 4 “C’s” (Creativity, Collaboration, Communication and Critical Thinking) is not a luxury, but a necessity.

(Abridged from an ARTSblog article by Marete Wester.)

The arts mean business. Because businesses go where employees find culture.

Mayors and design and development experts from across the country convened in Chicago last month for the
National Summit on City Design to identify challenges, opportunities and funding sources for cities that work well. Among their conclusions were the importance of the arts in creating a vibrant economy:

“Mayors understand that the arts mean business,” stated Conference of Mayors President Burnsville Mayor Elizabeth B. Kautz. “The nonprofit arts sector alone generates over $166 billion annually in economic activity. An important element to making our cities places to attract and grow businesses, tourism, and jobs is for a community to maintain good urban design.

And in his keynote address, National Endowment for the Arts NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman expressed the importance of the arts in a vibrant economy, “Artists are entrepreneurs, small businessmen all, great place-makers and community builders. Bring artists into the center of town and that town changes profoundly. We know now that people do not migrate to businesses. It is businesses that will move to where they can find a skilled, motivated, educated workforce. And what does that workforce look for? In survey after survey, the answer is education and culture.”

Mayor Richard Daley, who helped transform Chicago with green spaces, artwork and notable buildings during his 22 years in office, was honored by the conference as a leader in urban design during an annual meeting of the nation’s mayors.

In receiving the honor, Mayor Daley said, “Artists will define us of who we are in this century and I thank them for it.”

(photo credit)

Portland Metro arts non-profits provide $318 million in revenue, jobs & spending.

Join the Movement.

(photo credit)

CAN celebrates our Member Organizations. For the work they make possible.

CAN is here to bridge the public funding gap that non-profit arts and culture organizations and educational institutions battle every day. A gap that threatens to limit access to arts and arts education to only the children and communities that can afford it.

With our tiny budget and big mission, it is our Member Organizations that make CAN’s work possible. Check out the complete list at
theArtsCAN.org and consider adding your organization to our Membership Roster today.

Become a member and your organization, institution or business will be listed on the front page of
theArtsCAN.org in grateful acknowledgement of your support.

Suggested Membership Dues

Based on annual Organizational Budgets

More than $5 million = $1,000

More than $2.5 million = $500

More than $1 million = $250

Less than $1 million = $100

CAN is a 501(c)3 organization and our Federal Tax ID number is 38-3786808. Every gift to CAN is 100% tax deductible.

CAN Mail: April 2011 Edition

Posted on April 14, 2011 by CAN

Portland becomes CAN’s first step. While continuing the region-wide conversation for sustainable arts funding.

On behalf of our region-wide arts, culture and creative community, our thanks go out to you for lending your voice and your vision to our effort to increase public funding for the arts across the Portland Metropolitan Area. We have generated tremendous momentum and made ground-breaking progress towards the establishment of a new stable and dedicated public funding stream for the arts and you have helped us to chart the course for a fund that will strengthen the creative capacity of our communities and our classrooms for years to come.

With 18 months of awareness raising, public input and advocacy under our belts, CAN’s approach to increasing public funding for the arts across the region has evolved to leverage our greatest strengths and opportunities in an economic environment that has proved challenging. Today, we believe that the path to long-term region-wide public funding starts at the local level. With the strong support of the City of Portland, CAN will begin here and has pledged to bring a new stable and dedicated funding stream for the arts to Portland by the end of 2012.

While CAN takes on a more local focus, we know that there is still much to be gained by continuing the region-wide conversation and the pursuit of equitable region-wide access to arts and cultural experiences and creative learning opportunities. To inspire your continued support and engagement, whether or not you live in, work in or visit the City of Portland, CAN will continue keeping you up-to-date on our progress towards a new dedicated public funding stream as well as any critical advocacy updates and regional engagement opportunities. Your investment in the creative and cultural capacity of our region will have a lasting impact. We hope you will continue to support CAN’s efforts as we prepare to take a giant step forward for the arts in the City of Portland.

CAN is pleased to announce the release of our 2010 Annual Report. Read about the gains we’ve made in fulfilling our mission.

Just a few of the highlights:

CAN is on track to double our base of support for the third year in a row! We’ve made ground-breaking progress towards establishing a stable new funding source. And in 2010, CAN inspired 93 arts, education, civic and business leaders to create an innovative tri-county arts investment plan, 645 residents to participate in public meetings and surveys and 2,242 new supporters to join the movement.

Email info@theArtsCAN.org for your electronic or hard copy.

The impact of cutting arts education for children: Less participation in the arts as adults.

In 2008, the National Endowment for the Arts conducted a Survey of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA) in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau. The final report of this survey, which includes comparison data for similar studies conducted in 1982, 1992 and 2002, presents a wealth of information on arts and culture attendance rates over the past twenty-five years.

Arts Education in America: What the Declines Mean for Arts Participation looks at data from 1982 through 2008 to discover that adults who took childhood classes in at least one art form were about 50% more likely to attend a “benchmark” arts event, compared with adults who took no childhood arts classes. Noting that budget constraints in recent years and a shift in emphasis toward “basic” subjects have led to a decline in public school arts instruction since the late 1970’s, the authors hypothesize that the current decline in the number of young adults participating in the arts may be “in large measure the result of cuts in school-based arts instruction.”

The report also finds that this decline has been sharper for Americans whose parents are less educated. For example, rates of participation in arts classes for children whose parents’ highest level of educational attainment is less than a high school diploma, declined from 54% to 13% from 1982-2008. SPPA data also reveals a large race/ethnicity gap in childhood arts learning. In 1992, nearly 44% of young African Americans had taken arts classes when they were children. By 2008, that percentage fell to 28%, a 16-point decline compared to a 7-point decline for whites, 60% of whom reported having had some arts training in school. (Abridged from an article by Arts Consulting Group)

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