Monday, August 23, 2010

Advocacy Update - Arts Education: Time to Get Educated

This summer the U.S. House of Representatives passed a Congressional Resolution designating a week beginning September 12 as "Arts in Education Week." This resolution is the first Congressional expression of support celebrating all the disciplines comprising arts education and comes at a time when Congress is making plans to overhaul federal education policy.

How timely. This summer North Carolina's General Assembly unanimously passed Senate Bill 66 authoring a Task Force to create a comprehensive arts education plan for North Carolina. The Task Force will hold its first meeting on September 22.

ARTS North Carolina will begin a series of messages encouraging action steps you can take to support arts education in our state and in our nation. 


We must embrace and literally push forward the arts as a key ingredient of public school reform. We cannot imagine who would not have a vested interest in young people learning through and becoming successful because of arts education. "Arts education is not ornamental, it is fundamental," and anyone who says it costs too much money does not have their priorities in place. 

That's our job: to help get priorities in place.

Action step one: Read the Congressional resolution (note the news of North Carolina's own Milton Rhodes right above resolution info) and the North Carolina Comprehensive Arts Education Plan bill: Action step two: Contact your local Board of Elections and find out who is running for School Board in your district. Today's action step is about being informed, the first step in successful advocacy.

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