I’ve avoided writing this entry for a few months now. It hurt to even think about doing so. But, with the school year starting here in Gainesville this week, I have to accept that we’ve lost half of the elementary art and music teachers in our county.
While the same story may be occurring in school districts across the country, it was perhaps wishful thinking on my part that it wouldn’t happen in my backyard. Faced with a $14 million budget cut in state money with another 4-percent cut expected in the fall, the Alachua County School Board instituted a number of cost-cutting measures at the beginning of summer including the elimination of half of the art and music programs at the elementary level. The 11 elementary art teachers remaining in the district will split their time between two schools during the coming school year; in effect, providing art instruction to students at both schools for half a year. The same is happening over in elementary music education.
I know it’s customary for school boards to respond to budgetary tightening by cutting out the “frills” of the curriculum or as the arts are sometimes called around these parts, the “special” subjects—even though the arts are listed as core subjects in national and state educational literature. It seems like only yesterday that I wrote about signs of growing support for arts education and that nearly two-thirds of American voters support teaching imagination and creative skills in schools—a position supported by Sir Ken Robinson who spoke here in Gainesville back in January. Oh, and let’s not forget the strong case Daniel Pink makes for arts education providing the best preparation for the 21st century. But, I’m afraid that advocacy for arts education is falling on deaf ears in a state that is reeling from the economic downturn.
Instead of keeping elementary art and music intact, the school board chose to put the issue on the ballot in November and ask county voters to approve a one-mill property tax increase, which if passed would lead to the reinstatement of the programs. Given that Florida voters approved an amendment back in January to cut property taxes, which led to downsizing the art and music programs in the first place, it’s easy to be skeptical about voters in Alachua county passing the one-mill increase this coming November.
Still, I hold out hope that county voters will respond favorably and the arts will be reinstated in our elementary schools. A small group of arts supporters are working to make that happen.
Following the announcement earlier this summer that the elementary music and art classes would be cut in half, a number of parents, teachers and other volunteers worked to raise the money needed to return elementary arts programs to full-year status. While the group, now calling itself Save Our Schools, did raise a considerable amount of money, the sum was far short of the $850,000 goal that Superintendent Dan Boyd said was required to reinstate the art programs.
Those funds are now being held by the Gainesville Community Foundation to accrue interest until the arts programs are reinstated. Once that happens, the money will be turned over to the district to help support school arts programs in the county.
Meanwhile, Save Our Schools will continue to keep the issue of restoring our elementary arts programs to full-year status in the minds of voters and work to raise money that will support the arts programs once that happens. This past weekend, the group was outside Belk at the Oaks Mall in Gainesville handing out 20% off coupons for shoppers that made a donation of $5 or more to the fund. Close by in the Oaks Mall Plaza, another group of volunteers helped stage a Block Party sponsored by Great Southern Music to raise awareness of the value and need for arts programs in our elementary schools.
Save Our Schools activities recently held at the Oaks Mall in Gainesville
As an art teacher educator, I encourage my students to become strong advocates for the arts in the communities where they end up teaching and living. In fact, our students frequently participate in community arts programs here in Gainesville and assist local art teachers in staging student art exhibitions throughout the county and at school board meetings. One of the reasons I came to teach at the University of Florida over twenty years ago was that I met several extraordinary local art teachers during my interview visit that were actively involved in promoting art in the community.
That’s one of the things that make the reduction of our elementary arts programs particularly disheartening. This is Gainesville, Florida, which was mentioned in Richard Florida’s The Rise of the Creative Class, where the arts are seen at vital to community life and development. Hopefully, the community will go to the polls in November and send a clear message that arts education is a vital part of education in our local schools as well.
To wrap this entry up, I’m curious what’s happening in other counties around the country. I hear stories of school art programs being cut elsewhere; but, I’m not sure if they’re rumors or true.
What’s happening in your district? Have arts programs been cut? Are they maintaining status quo? Or, are they hiring more arts teachers in your school or district?
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Craig,
First and foremost excellent website for art educators, continue to do great work!
When I was first hired four years ago, I was hired with the intentions of my part-time position turning full-time, but 4 years later, different administrators, several school budgets that have failed, I am still only teaching 2/5 classes on alternative days (that’s 4 classes- 2 on A days and 2 on B days). Some days, I honestly don’t know which way to turn, initially, I had my students everyday for half the year, at least there was consistency, whereas now learning takes on a new meaning, several students have more of a difficult time remembering the information learned on a every other day bases, coupled with students constantly being pulled out of my class for several reasons (middle school level), with half my class ready to move on and the other half not knowing what day it is, I sound like a broken record some days.
There is another art teacher in the elementary level but the school district has her teaching 6/5 classes- yes, this can happen, unfortunately, we have the worse teacher union to speak of.
I am torn, because I find myself pulling back as an art educator, I’m a big believer in life learners and I try to set an example for my students so I am constantly trying to learn new approaches, techniques, any information about art and life and try to bring that energy into my classrooms but I can’t help to feel more like a door mat some days. I have spoken to the administration about my career goals and they just seem to sympathetically sway there heads no and say it’s out of there hands but at the same time look the other way when I go out of my duties to make art happen in our school district.
When I was first hired, I had so many ideas and some came through but on my own time and money. Where I live, cuts are through-out. It seems like school districts are only hiring part-time art teachers with expectations of full-time work. I’m optimistic and continue my search for a school district that truly supports and values art education as well as there teachers.
E Mirra
Wow. Thanks for posting that Craig- although while I usually come away from reading your site energized, this post has of course, left me fully depressed. I feel less in touch with what is going on at the local level *anywhere* in the US right now, but this certainly confirms my fears. I too have been looking through rose colored glasses, having read Pink and Gardner’s assessments of creativity (and starting to read one of Robinson’s book this year). The cold reality though is that visionaries are rarely recognized in their own time by their societies -and that’s a frightening thought.
Crag,
No mater what the business is it seems that the arts are the first to take the hit when the economy goes south. Many years ago (1986) while working at an in-house advertising studio for a large department store the 5th floor determined that the budget needed balancing. This involved laying off (including my-self) many of the art department. This was done even though advertising is for the most part visual. Amazingly the ads suffered, sales dropped and the cause was determined. The art department was too small.
In business results from different management actions are very quickly brought to light, be they good or bad by the bottom line. If the results are bad, actions are often as quickly brought in to play. In my case with in a month I was asked to come back as a freelance artist. But as it was I had already moved on to another job but others on the art department were hired back and some even had all their benefits returned from before they were laid off.
Unfortunately public schools do not have in-place a system of determining if a particular management action is good or bad for the bottom line (Student success in life) and even if they did would not have the tools to quickly change the consequence of their actions.
I think that the only way to truly affect change is for teacher, students and parents to make sure that the elected officials truly believe that the arts have a place in public schools; and that those officials are willing to make the hard decisions that will keep the arts fully integrated in our children’s education.
[...] attended a community forum tonight on the current financial crisis in Florida that led to the reduction of art and music programs in our county’s elementary schools this year. Following the showing of a short video [...]
[...] in August I sadly reported on the reduction of arts education classes in our local elementary schools due to [...]
[...] are lots of stories floating around about school arts programs being cut. Earlier this year, I blogged about the elimination of half the elementary art and music teachers in our local schools. [...]