2007 Candidate Survey

Arts for LA, in partnership with the Arts for All: County Los Angeles County Arts Commission Blueprint for Arts Education recently conducted a survey of school board candidates running for a seat in 20, of 28 Arts for All school districts in LA County. The goal of the survey is to to assess candidates awareness of and commitment to arts education in the district.

The survey questions help shed an important light on the way in which candidates are thinking about arts education policy, visibility and the availability of arts education in their district in light of new statewide funding (click here for more information about new statewide arts education funding) The questions were accompanied by a list of helpful resource links to assist candidates to learn about current arts education resources and issues.

We thank those candidates who took the time to provide thoughtful and informed responses to our survey.

Arts for LA is committed to learning about the views of candidates and sharing those views with our stake holders so that you can make an informed decision about the candidate you choose to support based on the issues that are important to you.

Arts for LA is pleased to share the results of survey with you.

Arts for LA surveyed 109 candidates running for election in 21 of 29 Arts for All districts. Each candidate was invited to participate in the survey via Email and a letter sent via the US Postal Service. Of the 109 candidates invited to, only 13 elected to participate in the survey. Below are the results. The entire packet can be downloaded by clicking the link at the bottom.

QUESTIONS:

1. [Insert School District] is in its [insert year] plan to restore arts education. What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of the plan?

2. If you are not familiar with the plan, what do you think [Insert School District] can and should do to make this work more visible?

3. What role do you think the arts can play in supporting key priorities of the district such as reducing the dropout rate, closing the achievement gap, and preparing more students for college eligibility?

4. Thanks to new state funding for arts education, [Insert School District] will now receive about [Insert Allocation] in new funds each year to support arts education. Now that the district is getting this new funding, what results should the state reasonably expect? How will you measure success?

5. Describe what role arts played in your life growing up.

6. Please take a moment to include any additional comments.

RESULTS (By District)

Full Packet

Resources

Resources

If you'd like to discuss an issue or get feedback from your peers, please join in the conversations happening on our Forums page.  You'll find Forums dedicated to Arts Education, Funding Opportunities, Arts Job Postings and discussions about Arts for LA's Action Platform.  Don't see what you're interested in?  Register and you'll be able to create a forum or group.

For ongoing discussions and access to community portal tools, consider joining or starting a Group.  Groups allow users to upload calender items, share documents, contact other group members and blog.  

Arts for LA recommends the following websites, reports and blogs as excellent resources for the arts & cultural community.  If you'd like to recommend another resource, please contact us at camille-at-artsforla.org.