At the dawn of a new decade those of us who are working in arts and culture find ourselves in an interesting moment.  

The state fiscal crisis continues to impact cities and school districts throughout our region.  While our individual goals may be to maintain our own organizations' solvency, our collective goal must be to retain the critical infrastructure that has been built over the past ten years, especially in arts education.

Last month I attended a plan-of-action meeting addressing the proposed devastating cuts to elementary art and music programs for LAUSD's 2010-11 arts education branch budget. The proposed cuts will eliminate 50% of elementary arts teacher positions, equaling roughly 173 of 345 teachers.  If enacted, these cuts will decimate arts education in LAUSD.

Building strong support for the arts and arts education is what you do every day.  Yet resources continue to dwindle, as the state economic forecast affirms that fiscal recovery is slow for California.  This means that counties, cities and school districts will continue to grapple with insurmountable budget deficits, short falls and cuts to essential city services.

It's Happening: Community Advocacy Teams

 

Hello Arts Advocates,

It's happening.  We are organizing community advocacy teams in school districts, and people are excited about it.