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Friday, June 20, 2008
Where’s the love for arts education?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A new national study paints a poor picture about the quality of arts education in public schools.
The report repeats what similar studies have said before — arts education is a low priority.
Emphasis on the arts diminished during tough financial times in the 1970s. Arts were marginalized more in the 1980s through trends pushed reading, writing and math. Today we emphasize high-stakes testing and education reforms that focus on reading and math.
Many Georgia school systems have blamed arts cuts on increasing expenses from growing enrollments, state funding cuts and higher cots for utilities and employees’ salaries and benefits.
That doesn’t mean the arts are dead. Kids attend art summer camps and stay after school for drama and music and arts classes. About 50 students attended the Juilliard Summer Jazz Residency program this week at North Atlanta High.
Arts supporters say kids attend these programs after-school or pay for them because schools fail to give the subject the attention it deserves.
Are schools short-changing the arts? How can schools give more attention to the arts?
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