PPS Closes the Gap and Funds Arts Instruction for Every Elementary School

Yesterday the Portland Public Schools Board unanimously approved a budget for the 2013-14 school year that will ensure every Portland elementary school student in the district has access to an arts education. Just one year ago, 11,596 PPS students attended a school with no instruction in arts, music, dance or drama. And today there are still 16 PPS schools educating K-5 students without an art, music, dance or drama teacher. As the only school district in Portland with K-5 schools that do not include arts educators, closing this gap at PPS will effectively close the gap citywide. And with that gap closed, we can focus on increasing access to a K-12 arts education that includes every discipline (visual art, music, dance and drama). Today we celebrate PPS for using Arts Education & Access Fund dollars to ensure that every public elementary school student in Portland has access to an arts education.

Mayor Hales Acts to Ensure Portland Schools Hire Arts Teachers in the Fall

With the Revenue Bureau reporting that Arts Tax collections are reaching $7,000,000, it is difficult not to get excited about all of the arts teachers and programs that Portland’s new Arts Education & Access Fund will support in the coming year. However, two lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the new tax nearly prevented Portland’s six school districts from including Arts Tax revenue in their 2013-14 budgets.

In March, Mayor Hales announced that the city could not distribute Arts Tax revenue to schools or arts organizations, as intended, because if the city were to lose either suit, the money might have to be given back to taxpayers. But that left Portlanders without the 70 elementary arts, music, dance and drama teachers that they have now paid for. And for many, this is an unacceptable consequence of two lawsuits that the city has said it will most likely win.

To his credit, Mayor Hales has proposed a solution – a risk sharing deal that Portland Public Schools was quick to accept. “The superintendents and I have been working to find a way to be true to the taxpayers, whose money this is, and to the voters, who approved the arts tax,” Hales said. “We think this does it.”

Under the Mayor Hales deal, roughly half of the $6 million originally budgeted to fund elementary arts teachers in Portland schools, will be distributed on time to Portland’s six school districts (Portland Public Schools, Centennial, David Douglas, Parkrose, Reynolds and Riverdale). Of that $3 million disbursement, the risk will be split equally: $1 million from the city’s contingency fund; $1 million from future budget appropriations to the Regional Arts & Culture Council; and $1 million combined from the six school districts. The Portland Tribute reports that a bout two-thirds of the distribution is earmarked for PPS; one-third for the other districts. Each district will decide how it wants to spend the money which will be distributed in November. No further distribution is expected until favorable rulings or settlements have been reached in the law suits.

While agreements have not been finalized with every school district yet, the approval of the Portland Public Schools budget last night includes a staffing plan for at least 30 arts teachers serving every K-5 student district wide. This would not have been possible without the passage of the Arts Education & Access Fund and Mayor Hales’ short-term plan to guarantee its distribution.

“These decisions have been tough to reach, but it’s been a combined effort all along, and we’re grateful to the arts community and our school districts for working with us to find a practical solution. In the end, getting teachers in our classrooms will pay dividends for generations to come.”

In this Sunday’s Oregonian editorial, Susan Nielsen writes of the “confusion, frustration and legal uncertainty” around Portland’s new Arts Education & Access Fund. “As the first bill comes due this week,” she suggests, “it’s time to ask whether arts advocates’ good intentions can be rescued…”

While, at the Creative Advocacy Network, we believe that the resounding answer is “YES!”, we also acknolwedge that our work to establish a new public fund for the arts in Portland’s classrooms and communities is far from over. And we need your help to keep the door open and the dream alive.

To honor the will of the voters who overwhelmingly passed the Arts Tax at the ballot last November, we will continue working to protect and defend the goals of the Arts Education & Access Fund until it is successfully collected and distributed to the classrooms and communities that it was designed to reach.

Together, we can and will fulfill the promise of arts education in every elementary school, stable funding for Portland’s non-profit arts community and access to the arts citywide. Join Us!

Here’s how you can help:

1.   Pay your Arts Tax and spread the word to friends, neighbors and co-workers that you are proud that your tax dollarts will restore arts education to every Portland elementary school and increase access to the arts citywide.

2.   Donate to CAN’s Defense Fund and ensure that the 62% of Portland voters who established the Arts Education & Access Fund in November are represented in ongoing citywide conversations about the future of the Arts Tax.

3.   Volunteer your time and leadership to support CAN’s advocacy, research, social media, administration and program development.

4.  Join Us on Facebook for daily updates, networking and advocacy.

Last November, 62% of voters approved a groundbreaking new funding mechanism for arts education and access in our community. Why? To restore arts education to every Portland public elementary school and increase access to the arts citywide.

If you have not yet paid your $35 arts tax, it is time. The Arts Tax is due on May 15th! Go to www.artstax.net.

Confused about whether this new income tax applies to you? These 4 simple questions will make it clear.

1. Are you a Portland resident?

2. Are you 18 or older?

3. Do you earn $1,000 in income over and above any Social Security benefits, pension benefits from the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System (PERS), pension benefits from the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) or interest income from US Treasury bill notes and bonds?

4. Is your household income above the federal poverty level? (Don’t know? Go to www.artstax.net to find out.)

If you answered yes to all 4 questions then you owe the City of Portland $35 by May 15th. How do you pay? Go to www.artstax.net.

Your $35 will restore arts education to every public Portland elementary school and fund arts access citywide.

Portland Public Schools District Announces Plans to Fund 45.5 Arts Teachers

On Monday, April 15th, PPS Superintendent Carole Smith proposed a $487 million budget for the 2013-14 school year. This proposal marks a pivotal moment for Portland schools in that it checks the erosion of educational programs that has shadowed current students nearly every year that they have attended school. And the passage of the Arts Education & Access Fund by Portland voters in November was credited as significant factor in this turnaround. 

“Thanks to the voters of this city, the arts tax will fund 45.5 arts teachers in our K5 and K8 schools ensuring that every student has access to visual arts, dance, music or theater in grades K5. Research has demonstrated the academic benefits for students who participate in the arts. We know that across the country there has been a persistently inequitable distribution of arts in schools. Our city has helped to eliminate this gap in service. Thank you again.”

This year, PPS is the only school district of the six districts in Portland with elementary schools that offer no access to instruction in art, music, dance or drama. With Superintendent Smith’s proposed budget for 2013-14, that gap will be eliminated while access to the arts for every K5 student will increase.

Thank you, Portland, for your vote to restore arts education to Portland’s public elementary schools!

Save the Date for the

STATE OF THE ARTS

Wednesday, May 8, 2013 at 10am

Portland City Hall

Each year, Portland City Council invites the Regional Arts & Culture Council to make a report on the State of the Arts in Portland. This is our annual opportunity to pack the chambers of City Hall with hundreds of supporters while we showcase the importance of arts, culture and creativity for Portland’s economy, livability and the education of our children. It is also our moment to shine as we inspire City Council with meaningful and powerful performances and testimony by artists, educators, advocates and employers. We hope you will join us as we support the important work of the Regional Arts & Culture Council and advocate for the arts in every Portland classroom and community. Let’s fill City Council Chambers. RSVP@RACC.org

Portland’s Arts Education & Access Fund $35 Income Tax is due May 15th

Last November, 62% of voters approved a groundbreaking new funding mechanism for arts education and access in our community. As a result, every public Portland elementary school will have an art or music teacher next year, and the remaining funds will be distributed by RACC to nonprofit arts organizations and schools that are actively increasing everyone’s access to the arts.

You are responsible for paying this income tax of $35 by May 15th if all of the following are true:

•          You are 18 or older
•          You lived in the City of Portland for any part of 2012
•          You had income of $1,000 or more in 2012
•          Your household is above the poverty level

To help save costs to raise as much revenue as possible for arts education and access, pay your tax online at www.artstax.net. Exemption forms are also available online.

To those who have already paid: Thank You! Portland’s six school districts and the Regional Arts & Culture Council are looking forward to putting your investments into action.

Nestled within a vibrant and diverse neighborhood in Northeast Portland, Martin Luther King Jr. School has become a national model for how the arts can transform troubled schools. Recently in the lowest-achieving five percent in Oregon, King School has invested heavily in expanding arts education for students to boost student achievement and enrollment. The results? Awe-inspiring. In fact, this year King recorded the  highest year-to-year academic growth of any PreK-8 in the Portland Public Schools District and now exceeds both state and district averages.

King School’s investments in arts education began with the hiring of two arts teachers – an English language learner/music teacher and a certified dance teacher specializing in African dance. Next, King joined the  Right Brain Initiative and has welcomed two resident artists this year including Portland’s first Creative Laureate, photographer Julie Keefe. Finally King has partnered with nearly a dozen community-based arts organizations to expose students to integrated learning opportunities, professional arts experiences and exciting new ways to creatively collaborate.

King Students have benefited from Oregon Children’s Theater‘s Playwriting Contest: The Bully Project, Portland Art Museum‘s Object Stories project and Portland Playhouse‘s Shakespeare immersion program. King also welcomed guest artist Michelle Swinehart, Portland Baroque Orchestra, and  White Bird Dance into their classrooms and onstage for some amazing teaching and learning opportunities.

Honored with national accolades and funding from Turnaround Arts, a program of the President’s Commision on the Arts and Humanities, just this month King School welcomed Sarah Jessica Parker to a day of arts education and a school wide assembly to celebrate the tremendous academic and artistic accomplishments of King School.

We believe that showcasing the incredible programming at King School is the very best way to illustrate how arts in schools can bring together parents, teachers, students, artists and non-profit organizations to change lives.

Support Arts Education at King Join the Second Annual Auction on May 18th

If you are as inspired as we are by the arts education program at King, consider supporting their Second Annual Auction on May 18th. Tickets are $35 for this Latin-inspired evening that will include Live Music by Curtis Salgado and conducted by Thara Memory, Mexican food, beer and Margaritas and a DJ’d dance party. The event will take place at Metalcraft Fabrication at 723 N Tillamook Street in the Albina District from 6:30-10:30pm.

Pay Early. Pay Online. www.artstax.net                
Your early online payment will keep costs down and maximize Portland’s investment in Arts Education & Access

Today the City of Portland Revenue Bureau launched www.artstax.net to educate the public about the city’s groundbreaking new Arts Education & Access Fund and begin accepting $35 income tax payments from local residents.

Due annually by April 15th beginning this year in 2013, Portland’s new $35 income tax for income-earning adult residents of Portland (and exempting any taxpayer under the federal poverty limit) will generate approximately $12.2 million in annual net revenue. Passed into law when 62% of Portland voters approved Ballot Measure 24-146 last November, the Arts Education & Access Fund is a local income tax to restore arts education to every Portland elementary school and fund arts education and access programs citywide.

To ensure that every Portland resident receives ample information and notice about this new local income tax, www.artstax.net answers frequently asked questions; provides an overview of the Fund’s investments, its Citizen Oversight Committee, and the City Code, Rules and Policies; and offers online payment and exemption request options. In addition to this comprehensive online resource, the City of Portland Revenue Bureau will also be reaching out to all Portland residents by mail.

Thomas Lannom, City of Portland Revenue Bureau Director, believes as many as 20-40% may choose to pay online. “We hope many Portlanders will help us avoid the cost and environmental impact of mailing paper forms; people who file before March 25 will not be sent paper forms which saves printing, postage and paper, and ultimately more money will go to the arts,” Lannom said.

However the taxes are paid, these new tax dollars will be put to work immediately.

When the school year begins next Fall, nearly 70 elementary school arts teachers will be sustainably funded, every elementary school student in Portland’s six school districts will be guaranteed an arts education, and arts supplies, programs and field trips will be more accessible for all school-age children through grant funding for Portland’s schools and non-profits. Centennial, David Douglas, Parkrose, Portland Public,  Reynolds and Riverdale school districts will all benefit from the Arts Education & Access Fund while grants from the Regional Arts & Culture Council will provide Portland’s non-profit arts organizations with the public support they need to bring the arts to life for every Portland resident.

At the Creative Advocacy Network, we know that the arts improve our schools, shape our neighborhoods, fuel our economy and improve the livability of this city that we love. And now, with a simple annual $35 tax payment, we can ensure that every Portland resident has access to our city’s cultural and creative riches.

Pay early. Pay online. And bring the arts to life for every Portland classroom and community.

Last night, City of Portland voters passed ballot measure 26-146 to restore arts and music programs to Portland schools and fund the arts citywide.

Thank you Portland! Your support will bring the arts to life in every Portland classroom and community, ensuring that every Portland elementary school will once again provide arts education and that every Portland resident will have access to the creative riches of our beautiful city for years to come.

This proposal was years in the making with input and support from more than 10,000 people and more than 5,000 volunteer hours. Together we have built a movement and established a fund that we can be proud of. Thank you all for your time, your passion, your guidance, your energy and your belief that we can make this a city that we are deeply proud to call home.

When the school year begins next Fall, nearly 70 elementary school arts teachers will be sustainably funded, every elementary school student in Portland’s six school districts will be guaranteed an arts education and arts supplies, programs and field trips will be made available for all school-age children through grant funding to Portland’s schools and non-profits.

And finally, Portland’s non-profit arts organizations will have the public support they need to bring the arts to life for every Portland resident – providing free arts experiences, reaching underserved communities and developing imaginative community-based arts experiences for our children – all while continuing to shape our neighborhoods, fuel our economy, educate our children and bring us together.

In Portland, $35 goes a long way. Thank you for your investment in our City, in our children, and in our future.

We did it!!

Ballots arrive in mailboxes this week and Portlanders will have the opportunity to make an enormous impact on our children and our city. We urge you to Vote YES on Measure 26-146 to restore arts and music education to our schools and bring arts and creativity to life citywide.

Measure 26-146 will fully fund elementary arts teachers for all six Portland school districts to ensure that every Portland elementary school student receives weekly arts education. The measure will also provide approximately $1.6M to schools and non-profits to make arts supplies, arts programs and arts field trips freely available to K-12 students citywide.  And, fund teachers on special assignment to coordinate arts education opportunities for every K-12 student in Portland’s six school districts.

Finally, Measure 26-146 will increase access to the arts for every Portland resident by supporting non-profit arts organizations like ours that increase access to the arts in Portland’s classrooms and communities.

We believe every child deserves equal access to educational opportunities and studies show that access to arts education increases school attendance, performance in math and science, high school graduation rates and success in college.

As Portland Association of Teachers President Gwen Sullivan states, “Measure 26-146 is good for schools, good for kids, good for citizens and good for the city. And our kids are counting on it and us to come through.”

Please join us in strengthening our schools and our city by voting YES on Measure 26-146.  It’s about our kids and it’s about time.