More arts please. Too many schools are dumping their arts program and its a terrible idea. It should be promoted.

Hi, I'm Gretchen Walker from Philadelphia's Arts Rising, an arts for youth initiative in Philadelphia. I'll be following & learning from the steps you all take in LA...in trying to ramp up community support and advocacy for arts ed in Philly. Ciao for now.

Hi, I'm Gretchen Walker from Philadelphia's Arts Rising, an arts for youth initiative in Philadelphia. I'll be following & learning from the steps you all take in LA...in trying to ramp up community support and advocacy for arts ed in Philly. Ciao for now.

Dear Tara,
 
It was wonderful to see so people from the arts community attend the September 24th meeting!  Some of them have been regular attendees at the monthly "Arts for All" meetings over the past 6 years, and others have not. As a result, not all the attendees are familiar with the "Arts for All" 9-year strategic plan which the committee developed, and which the SMMUSD Board of Education adopted in January 2005. It's posted at http://www.smmusd.org/vapa/pdf/StrategicPlan.pdf
 
I wish that I had the "Introduction" to the plan on my computer so I could include it in this letter. Written by Kathryn Kert Green and another AFA committee member, it beautifully encapsulates many of the ideas we discussed at the September 24th meeting.

Re "Arts for All" benchmarks for a sustainable arts education program, SMMUSD has achieved the following:
 
1. an arts education policy adopted by the Board of Education
 
2. an arts education plan adopted by the Board of Education (our 9-year plan)
 
3. an district arts education coordinator (our VAPA Coordinator, Tom Whaley)
 
4. a ratio of at least one credentialed arts teacher per 400 students enrolled in the district
 
The one benchmark the district has not met is devoting at least 5% of the general fund budget to arts education programs. This percentage has increased from 3.4 to 3.7% over the last few years (I think primarily because of the state Music and Arts Block grant).
 
So, regarding the categories upon which we were attempting to reach consensus on September 24th (Challeneges, Slutions, Goal, Strategies), and keeping in mind the Board-adopted "Arts for All" plan, I offer the following as a draft:
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1. Challenges

  a. Short-term: Due to the current budget crisis, the need to protect the existing VAPA programs from funding cuts in 2010-2011. (For example, Elementary Music teachers could be proposed for elimination, as two of them were in February 2009.)
 
   b. Long-term: Inadequate funding to make the the "Arts for All" 9-year strategic plan a reality. The plan, adopted by the Board of Education in 2005, would provide equitable access to sequential standards-based VAPA instruction (dance, music, theatre, and visual arts) for all PreK-12 students in SMMUSD.
 
2. Solutions - Through community advocacy, persuade potential funders/decision-makers to provide adequate funding. Funders/decision-makers could include the following:
 
   a. Board of Education
 
   b. Big donors -- corporations, foundations, individuals -- (Re Joyce Smith's suggestion, review the extensive efforts of the "For The Arts" Steering Committee so we don't waste time trying to re-invent the wheel.)
 
   c. Smaller donors -- parents, other community members, small business owners
 
   d. Other governmental bodies -- City Council, State Legislature, and Governor
 
3. Goal

   a. Short-term -- Maintain current district VAPA funding for 2010-2011.
 
   b. Long term:
 
       1) Persuade the Board of Education, once the current budget crisis is past, to increase VAPA funding to include a districtwide Visual Arts program for grades 4 and 5 and to increase support for Dance and Theatre programs.
      2) Raise $(TBD)for the "For The Arts" endowment so it can fund current or updated goals.
      3) Advocate at the state level for increased PreK -12 education funding and for again limiting Music & Arts Block Grant expenditures to arts education.
 
4. Strategies

  a.  Communication with the Board of Education - speak at Board meetings (agendas posted at www.smmusd.org, 3-minute time limit for public comment)  and e-mail (Brd at smmusd.org)

  b. Public Relations
 
      1) Create a website (Wendy McGinty's suggestion) with information about both school district and community arts events.
 
      2) E-mail blasts - The Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Division used to send out a weekly e-mail blast called "The Palette" which highlighted a half dozen arts-related events, sometimes including school concerts, musicals, art exhibits. Hamp Simmons recently retired, so we don't know if "The Palette" will continue.
 
      3) Press releases to local newspapers to generate both articles and editorials
 
      4) Letters-to-the-editors of local newspapers:
        Santa Monica Daily Press - www.smdp.com  
        Santa Monica Mirror -- www.smmirror.com  
        www.SurfSantaMonica.com (online only)  
        www.SantaMonicaDispatch.com (online only)  
        The Argonaut -- www.ArgonautNewspaper.com   
 
      5) CityTV -- Robin.Gee at smgov.net
 
      6) Seascape (city quarterly) -- Rachel.Waugh at smgov.net
      
  c. State government - Governor Schwarzenegger, State Senator Fran Pavley (former teacher), Assemblywoman Julia Brownley (former SMMUSD parent and Board of Education member, she serves on the Assembly Education Committee), Superintendent for Public Instruction Jack O'Connell
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Best regards,

Zina Josephs
SMMUSD Arts for All Committee
VAPA DAC

Hi, so... If I don't get it wrong these meetings are to build teams for advocacy. I live closer to Santa Monica-Culver but I could participate in Paramount, is it worth? or topics discussed have more to do w/ the particular district? By the way, I've done the Arts for All training in 2007(dance) and I am looking to find more schools where to teach. thanks

Support the Arts so I can open doors for future even, because I have the influence and desire as an artist myself. Cordially Phil Correa