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The strengths of the plan are that (1) a colloboration between the County Office and several school districts is being established which will strengthen the focus on arts and music and help maintain focus while at the same time facilitating the sharing and gathering of new and exciting ideas from different entities. (2) A focus on preserving and maximizing current funding for arts/music programs and (3) plans and provisions for staff development on how to incorporate arts and music into daily curriculum. The weaknesses are that (1)there is still very limited funding which will prove challenging in order to be able to create and provide activities, programs, materials and staff development, (2) official delegation of administration that will oversee the project is still missing and (3) Concrete plans of execution for programs and scheduling of meetings/staff developments have not been created as of yet. These are priorities of mine to follow-up on.

I have not heard of any campaign within our district to promote this movement that has proven to develope a students artistic abilities. I briefly headr of a program at the High School Level, I am not sure where this program is taking place. I just checked our District Website and it does not mention anything about thisArts Education initiative. If we do have it, it would be helpful if they notify parents and students to participate in the program, we have many talented students that are not aware and could benefit from this initiative.

Strengths: Dedicated and knowledgeable instructors, professional development, community support. Weaknesses: Continuous budget cuts from general operating costs, arts education not yet accessible to all children.

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Candidate has not yet submitted a response.

I believe our District should post the plan on our website to give everyone access to it and mention the plan's existence in school and District newsletters. Another successful mode of advertisement and notification that has proved well with parents is the auto-dialer that calls homes. This can be used to notify families of the plan, invite them to attend and participate in committee meetings and keep them informed of updates. Also crucial is the inclusion of the Arts and Music Plan in Student ASB, PTA, Teacher, Principal and Leadership Meeting Agendas. Ensuring that all students, staff, parents and administration are informed of the plan will ensure visibility, endorsement and success!

The District needs to do a better job in promoting this arts education using the existing resources such as our District Website, schools own websites and other parent groups within the District. This low cost outreach can bring great results and attract many talented students lost in our educational system. The District recently spent money and other valuable resources promoting a newsletter designed to promote the incumbents re-election and it was targeted to registered voters with a high voting record; many of them do not even have children because they are senior citizens. I feel that the Board really needs to set their priorities and resources in a way that students can benefit from arts programs such as Arts for all. A investment in this kind of programs can provide many benefits.

N/A.

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Candidate has not yet submitted a response.

I believe that art/music play a very important role. Art is not simply a pass time or hobby, it is a type of intelligence and a powerful tool to help students learn. A large number of students are visual learners which require some type of art form to be able to grasp and remember concepts. In order to promote the educating of the whole child in an environment where creativity is not only encouraged but is essential, artistic means must be incorporated into the curriculum. Creativity opens doors to new views, outlooks and career opportunities. Ours is a community that faces issues dealing with gangs, tagging and truancy - art and self-expression is a huge outlet for many of our students and our job as a District is to help direct the energies of our students in ways that foster their creativity and expression while at the same time ensuring their academic success. Art and music in our schools is crucial if we plan to continue creating visionaries and pioneers for the world's future.

Arts is very important in the students life and self development. I can personally say that my daugther was very disappointed two years age when the district and under the board of education approval cut almost all art classes and the eliminated the music program at the Middle schools and drastically limited the same at the high schools. Thousands of talented students with arts and music talent have left our District because our District failed to provide this programs. Research has found that arts in the schools really reduces the drop out rate because it keeps students focus, and helps them discover abilities that most of them did not even knew they had. Arts reduces absenteeism as well and keeps students focus on academics and eventully prepares them to persue a college career in the arts. Many students do not perform well in science and math, but are gifted in arts and our district needs to provide this options for these students.

Gives children more opportunities to explore, create, and express themselves through a variety of means that keeps them engaged and interested in school. In addition, the district has made a commitment to partner with arts colleges and universities and have begun to articulate high school arts classes with post-secondary educational institutions, making our course work much more viable and relevant to the current demands of our labor market.

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I would ensure that dialogue between the Board of Education, Administration and the community takes place to secure the understanding and agreement of the protection of Art and Music funding. Unfortunately, art and music funding is generally scarce and transferring any amount to other areas would be detrimental to any art activities and programs that may be planned for the upcoming school year. A clear understanding of the importance of art and music in our curriculum combined with constant communication between stakeholders about the necessity of the preservations of said programs will be deciding forces when dealing with the protection of grants and funds pertaining to Arts and Music. I am very motivated to begin a committee to "Save Our Lynwood Arts" SOLA!

This is the worse piece of legislation that our state legislators have even done. The new flexibilities completely wiped out arts programs in elementaries and middle school and have drastically reduced that access to many students at the high school level. We really need to invest in arts if we want to save many talented students that need arts programs. Investment in arts programs should be the priority of any board member and an efford must be done to look for cut in other places to keep arts programs alive. We, parents must start puting pressure to our state legislators to stop these fexibilities that have eliminated arts programs in many districts and force local District to allocate funding to these valuable programs. As a board member, my priority will be to ensure proper funding to provide these services to as many students as possible. I seen how money is spent on consultants that are hire to perform the work of many district employees. The current board priorities are the needs of adults and not the students.

Despite the financial constraints and continuous cuts, LUSD has actually EXPANDED its commitment to arts education over this past year; utilized ROP money to add a dance teacher and program; brought back music to the high school and hired a band director; engaged in a partnership with East Los Angeles Classic Theatre through grant monies and after school program funding to provide theatre arts at 5 elementary schools after school.

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I grew up in Mexico in a ranch, my first memory of Art was when I was very young and I would play next to the river bed where all of the fresh mud was. I would mold dolls out of the mud, pretend I owned a doll store and that I sold dolls with beautiful dresses. This kept me occupied for hours a week, it cured boredom and everyday my mud dolls seemed to get more intricate and beautiful (and more expensive). My other fond memory of art took place when I was attending University completing my Bachelor's Degree. I was middle aged and had settled into the idea that I wasn't very crafty or creative. I took an Art class and was assigned with making a large doll or toy made from household items. I made a large Pinnocchio - the frame was bent wire hangers and it was covered with toilet paper and newspaper moistened with glue. I painted it and submitted it. My professor said it was one of the most beautiful crafts she had ever seen in her teaching career. It filled me with happiness and pride. I even showed it to my family and visitors that would come to my home. If an art project and positive reinforcement could affect me so much even in my later years, I know art in elementary and secondary schools will have a huge impact on student's self-esteem, confidence and ability to see and think outside of the box. Art and music are dear to my heart.

I was most focus on academics than arts, but the arts program at the high school save many of my friends and kept them away from joining local gangs. My daughther is a gifted artist that was not able to develop her gift for the arts at her former school until I transfered her to another district that provided these services and I was impressesd to see the paintings and drawings she created. At her former school District she was performing very poorly and loosing her interest in school, but now I can hapilly say that she is a totally new person, my daughter's grades have improved and she scored advance in science and proficient and language arts. I really observed her improvement when she started her art classes, she refused to miss any classes, specially arts. The improvement that my daughter gain was directly associated with the arts program and now I am strong sopporter for arts at all levels and it should be the priority of all school districts and board members.

As an elementary student, I participated in a school district elementary band program and I learned how to play the clarinet. This program gave me the motivation to join the marching band when I attended high school. I had the opportunity to be involved in the many school winter performing arts concerts. In my senior year of high school, I was able to be in a Shakespeare play. I had a GREAT experience being involved with music and theatre during my grade school years. We must continue to support these programs in our local schools.