March 5, 1999

 

County Arts Program Saluted by Hillary Rodham Clinton

 

The Santa Barbara County Education Office's Children's Creative Project was among 91 school arts programs nationwide recognized by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in a report, Advantage: Lessons From School Districts That Value Arts Education.

The report was a study by the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities and the Arts Education Partnership. It is the first national study to examine the success strategies of school districts in building and sustaining strong district-wide arts education.

The study represents 91 districts in 42 states with various population densities, total number of students, and funding levels per pupil. The profiles offer insights that could help any district in the country create and sustain arts education.

"Last September, I issued a call to action to provide arts education in every school in America because we know that instruction in the arts gives children vital elements of a quality education and makes them more successful in school and later on," said the First Lady, who is honorary chair of the President's Committee. "Gaining the Arts Advantage finds that the strongest single factor in determining whether a district provides arts education is the community's insistence, support, and participation in making it happen. So everyone who has a stake in our children's success should see arts education as their cause."

The study was underwritten by the GE Fund, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and Binney & Smith, Inc., with the additional support of the National Endowment for the Arts, the U.S. Department of Education, and the White House Millennium Council.

The two-year study identifies interrelating factors that contribute to the creation of strong, comprehensive arts education. The factors include a community consensus that enables a school board and administration to fund arts education; central office leadership and a cadre of building principals that see the arts as a core school subject; strong arts teachers who continue to practice their art inside and outside the school; and the active presence of community arts and cultural organizations in the district's schools, including the use of school performing arts venues.

How these and other factors contribute to arts education programs is explored in case studies of eight different school systems, including New York City's Community School District #25 in Queens; Greenville, SC; Las Cruces, NM; Miami-Dade County, FL; Milwaukee, WI; Redondo Beach, CA; Vancouver, WA; and Wyoming, OH.

An additional 83 school districts, including the Santa Barbara County Education Office, were selected for follow-up interviews and information-gathering after responding to surveys and submitting applications

"We are delighted that the Children's Creative Project was recognized in this fashion," said County Superintendent Bill Cirone, whose office coordinates the project. "We are not a school district, but our comprehensive, countywide program met the criteria established and reinforced our belief that this is a valuable service delivered in an outstanding manner. We are proud of the way we are able to bring arts education to the school districts and students of Santa Barbara County."

Initially, each district considered for study was recommended to the President's Committee and Arts Education Partnership by national and state arts and education leaders based upon the quality of the overall arts education program. Criteria included a commitment by the district over a number of years to arts education part of the core curriculum in all schools; funding to support arts teachers; materials, and facilities; a record of student achievement in the arts and evidence of advanced programs comparable to those in other school subjects.

U. S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley praised the communities and school districts discussed in the report.

"Three months ago, I released the results of a national assessment of what our eighth graders across the United States know and are able to do in the arts, " Riley said. "The results were discouraging and fully justified the First Lady's 'call to action' to restore the arts to all of our schools.

"This new study tells us&emdash;the in the words of local school board members, administrators, teachers, and parents&emdash;exactly how it can be done. Not to act on their advice would be inexcusable.

"Education in the arts is essential if our young people are going to succeed and contribute to what Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan describes as our 'economy of ideas,' an economy fueled by imaginative, flexible, and tough-minded thinking. The arts uniquely nurture that ability."

William Ivey, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, affirmed the critical role of arts education to the American society.

"This is a nation forged by the creativity of our citizens. Our heritage and our future depends on our fostering the creative abilities of every single child. That can only be done if the arts are a central dimension of education in America. I join in congratulating these school districts&emdash;and others across the country who share their commitment and success."

Gaining the Arts Advantage: Lessons From School Districts That Value Arts Education is available today on the World Wide Web at www.pcah.gov and may be downloaded in text and pdf formats. Requests for print publications, available in limited quantity, may be requested from the President's Committee for the Arts and the Humanities at (202) 682-5409 voice; (202) 682-5668 fax; and e-mail: pcah@neh.gov.