Friends of the Arts in LAUSD

THE SAVE THE ARTS BENEFIT ROCKED OUT!

2011-06-12T17:40:00.000-07:00

Thank so many of you who came out for the first Save the Arts Benefit last night at the JFK Family of Schools! The performances were outstanding, the arts was fantastic and varied. The labor of love donated from so many people behind the scenes, including the students of the Los Angeles High School for the Arts, made the night unforgettable. Not to mention the incomparable Chester Whitmore and crew closing the night.

A thousand thanks to the tireless, fearless, visionary, superhuman Suzanne Nichols for shepherding the benefit. Huge appreciation to the brilliant Jane Castillo for organizing the art auction! Here's to a future of support and recognition for arts education in LAUSD!

See www.savethearts.net for details, and to make an donation to the cause: Saving positions and providing resources for our schools!

Check out this LA Times article on the Arts in LAUSD by reporter Jason Song. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-arts-funds-20110613,0,2448881.story

No video from the event yet, but check out Austin Martinez and the East LA Performing Arts Academy Choir with Austin's original composition: "Scream, Sing, Shout, Stand (Save Our Teachers)" . Austin performed at the benefit with fellow classmates. Thanks you, students, for standing up for your teachers! More links to come.

Video Activism! All District Dance Festival! Sister Cities Art Show! Save the Arts Fundraiser!

2011-05-28T14:07:00.000-07:00

Thank you Venice Arts students and staff, Ronda Brown and Jay Davis for producing this great video as part of our Video Activism campaign! Please submit yours! See top bar for details...

Please join us at the First Annual K-12 LAUSD Dance Festival! Highlighting child-crafted choreography, on Saturday, June 4 at 4:00 p.m. at West Adams Prep High School. Admission is free!

May 12 - June 4 : See LAUSD's visual arts showcased at at the Charles White ES Gallery in the Second Annual Sister Cities: St. Petersberg / Los Angeles LAUSD Student Artwork Exhibition! Also featuring work of St. Petersberg, Russia's children. Please call the school for hours. (213) 487-9172

Join us on Saturday, June 11th at 6:00 p.m. at the Historic Cocoanut Grove Theatre for a Benefit Performance and Art Auction to SAVE THE ARTS in LAUSD! Go to www.savethearts.net/ to purchase tickets and for more info. Please contact Suzanne Nichols (323)219-5693 helpsavethearts@gmail.com if you would like to help out with publicity, donating additional auction items, and/or volunteering on the day of the event.

Tuesday, May 24th Rally to Save Education in California

2011-04-27T20:59:00.000-07:00

Please join us in this upcoming action to restore funding at a State level. Bring your "Save the Arts" type signage!

Wake Up California! Rallies to support public education funding Tuesday, May 24th.
Educate Our State is a parent-led, statewide campaign to unite the voices of Californians in support of high-quality K-12 Public Education and demand real change. Parents and concerned citizens are coordinating a statewide, multi-city day of action to increase awareness for the crisis facing California public schools and the need for our legislators to take action and pass the revenue extension measures to secure school funding. Parents are organizing rallies across the state to demonstrate the united voice of Californians in support of K-12 public education.

Please join parents, teachers and other arts education advocates at Central High School # 9, from 3:15 to about 5:00 on Tuesday, May 24th for a downtown rally. There will be a stage set up near the corner of Cesar Chavez and Grand.

If you can't make this rally, there will be other opportunities at schools, and a large rally at the Federal Building in Westwood at rush hour. Teachers and parents supporting arts education and education in general should join in this impressive grassroots effort to save our schools. Let's make sure the value of arts education is voiced while we join in the cause!

http://www.educateourstate.org/wake-up-california-rally.php

Put the Tax Extensions on the June Ballot! Call your legislator today and tell them to let the people vote!

2011-03-10T18:35:00.000-08:00

Those who care about arts education, education in general, and the long term economic viability of our State - need to call their state legislators and urge them to put the tax extensions on the ballot in June -- let the people vote!!! As you no doubt are aware, Governor Jerry Brown inherited a $25 billion-plus deficit from Governor Schwarznegger. Brown has proposed a budget that splits the difference to close the deficit -- one half budget cuts, and one half new revenues in the form of extending temporary tax increases passed two years ago.
But a group of Republican legislators are refusing to put the tax extensions on the ballot in June, calling instead for only cutting government services and programs -- even though cutting $25 billion would represent more than a quarter of the state’s budget!
This would be devastating to K-12 education, as reflected by the district’s current move to increase class sizes and layoff over 5,000 teachers and health and human services personnel.
Please inform your school site parents and community leaders of the importance of contacting the state legislators, and make sure you and your colleagues contact these legislators as well. Tell them to let the people vote on whether or not to extend the taxes.
It is impossible to overstate the importance of concerted phone calling – not from the union and its members – but from teachers, health and human services personnel, and parents. These calls WILL make a difference!!!

Persuade these local Republican legislators to put the tax extension on the June ballot. We need the support of two Assemblymen and two State Senators. Below are also links to legislators' contact information including direct email forms.

Assemblyman Cameron Smyth, Assembly District 38 (Santa Clarita)
District 38 also covers North Los Angeles County, including parts of LAUSD
Phone: 916-319-2038 Fax: 661-286-1408
http://arc.asm.ca.gov/member/38/?p=addresses
or...
Write a letter to Assemblyman Smyth through Artsfor LA's action center for North LA County residents

Senator Tom Harman, 35th Senate District (Huntington Beach)
Phone: (916) 651-4035  Fax: (916) 445-9263
http://cssrc.us/web/35/contact_us.aspx

Senator Bob Dutton, 31st Senate District (Rancho Cucamonga)
Phone: (916) 651-4031 Fax: (916) 327-2272
http://cssrc.us/web/31/contact_me.aspx

Assemblyman Mike Morrell, Assembly District 63 (Ranch Cucamonga)

http://www.arc.asm.ca.gov/member/63/?p=addresses
Phone: (916) 319-2063 Fax: (909) 466-9892

Senator Bob Huff, 29th Senate District (Diamond Bar)
Phone: (916) 651-4029  Fax: (916) 324-0922
http://cssrc.us/web/29/contact_me.aspx

Please let these legislators know how cuts will be impacting your community, and remind them that their decisions impact all California residents!

Find your legislators at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html

"Friends of the Arts in LAUSD" Planning Meeting Wednesday, March 9, 6:00

2011-03-06T04:14:00.000-08:00

Dear Educators, Parents, Families, and Friends,

You are cordially invited to join us at our first planning meeting for the "Friends of the Arts in LAUSD": a Coalition of LAUSD teachers, parents, community members, and local arts education advocates at the UTLA building on Wednesday, March 9th, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM (see address below).

Agenda will include group building and outreach/advocacy strategies for preserving and restoring Arts Education in LAUSD. Teachers, parents, families (including children and teens), support personnel, administrators, community members, and arts advocates are all welcome!

The arts are recognized as core academic subjects and an essential element of a complete and balanced education. But, with the proposed reductions to LAUSD arts programs K-12, and with the continued narrowing of the curriculum, children will have less opportunity to engage in high-quality, meaningful arts learning that will strengthen their creative thinking and problem solving skills.

Although "Friends of the Arts in LAUSD" is getting kicked off by UTLA's Arts Education Committee, we are hoping it will be a true collaborative effort of the community, and something that will serve as a unified voice for equitable, quality arts education for all students of LAUSD.

If you can't make it out next Wednesday, we will keep you informed about future meetings; we are thinking perhaps Saturday brunch get-togethers.

PLEASE forward this on to anyone who you think may be interested in becoming a Friend of the Arts.

SOME STATS & PROPOSED/POSSIBLE REDUCTIONS TO ARTS PROGRAMS 2011-12:

60% reduction to the innovative Elementary Arts Program (77% total reduction since 2009-10!):

There are 534 elementary schools.
Currently, there are 220 centrally-funded Elementary Arts Teachers (in Dance, Music -- Vocal and Instrumental, Theatre, and Visual Arts), plus 38 teachers purchased with school site categorical funds, who service all 534 elementary schools. In 2011-12, this number dwindles to 78 centrally-funded Elementary Arts Teachers to service as many students as possible, at as many schools as possible.
As many as 130 Elementary Arts Teachers will receive a RIF (lay-off) notice.
Elementary schools WILL have the option to purchase Arts Positions with categorical funds at their school sites. To find out how, please read the attached flyer about purchasing options for the Elementary Arts Program.
If all 534 elementary schools worked together, spreading out the costs of the Elementary Arts Program among them, and purchased just ONE DAY ($18,686) of Arts, that would provide 107 more full-time Elementary Arts Teacher positions. If 325 elementary schools were able to purchase an additional day of Arts - TWO DAYS total ($37,372) - these extra days would provide an additional 65 full-time positions, and the Arts Program could be retained at its current level for ALL elementary schools.

20% or greater reduction to secondary arts programs:

There are 253 secondary schools.
Of 241 secondary Music Teachers, about 100 will receive a RIF notice. That's a 40% reduction! About half of all secondary schools may not have any music program at all (neither band nor chorus).
Of 350 secondary Visual Arts/Media Arts Teachers, about 80 will receive a RIF notice (a 23% reduction) -- leaving only about one Visual Arts/Media Arts Teacher per school.
Currently, there are about 188 secondary Theatre/Drama Teachers. Most of these teachers are also teaching English or other subjects, and only teach a few periods of Theatre/Drama. 348 English Teachers will receive a RIF notice. It is unknown at this time how many of these 348 English Teachers are also Theatre/Drama Teachers, and therefore how many Theatre/Drama programs will be impacted and/or closed.
Currently, there are only about 76 secondary Dance Teachers. Most of these teachers are also teaching Physical Education or other subjects, and only teach a few periods of Dance. 109 Physical Education Teachers will receive a RIF notice. It is unknown at this time how many of these 109 PE Teachers are also Dance Teachers, and therefore how many Dance programs will be impacted and/or closed.

Secondary class sizes are already disproportionately large in arts "elective" classes (45-60 or more students per class). How high will class sizes rise if there might only be one or two arts teachers at each secondary school?
How will students be able to satisfy their graduation requirements and UC/CSU entrance requirements if there aren't enough arts classes for them to enroll in?

"FRIENDS OF THE ARTS" COALITION MEETING DATE/TIME/LOCATION:

Wednesday, March 9, 6:00-8:00 PM

UTLA Building

3303 Wilshire Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90010

(northwest corner of Berendo and Wilshire)

Parking is on Berendo next to the UTLA building. Validation is provided.

The room location will be available from the first floor security staff (please bring ID).

For LAUSD Educators: The "Friends of the Arts in LAUSD" meeting follows the UTLA Elementary and Secondary Committee Meetings (also held at UTLA on March 9 from 4:00-6:00). Come early and participate in one of these meetings to see how you can become a more active participant in the future of your profession. Dinner and child care is provided.

Thank you!

Any questions, please contact:

Michael Blasi

Co-Chair, UTLA Arts Education Committee

blasikin@gmail.com
818 497 0223

Rally for Arts Education : Saturday, June 5th, 2010

2010-06-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

Some scenes from Saturday's Rally for Arts Education and Measure E across the street from Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Hope. A wonderful coming together of supporters of Arts education in LAUSD: parents, students, teachers and advocates.

Featured performances and speaking by:
Santee High School Drum Corps
Walter Reed MS Sax Trio
Nile El Wardani
Sandra Tsing Loh
UTLA President AJ Duffy
School Board Member Steve Zimmer
Many other LAUSD teachers and students, ages 6 and up!

Twelve video clips from parent Jerry Lazar :
http://www.youtube.com/jerrylazar#p/u/12/eBbUqpdlrVs

Press:
http://laist.com/2010/06/05/rally_downtown_aims_to_inspire_vote.php

More video from music teacher Sam Liu: search utlarts on you tube for more.
Measure E Rally Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6VH08dK7vo

Measure E Rally Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFVvHrgLAgk

Parent Angela Tietze's shots:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=823711727114%3A212887044&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee

This School Tax is a Bargain - Steve Lopez on Measure E

2010-05-19T17:37:00.000-07:00

LA Voters:

For about two dollars a week, you can raise 93 million dollars to save 174 elementary arts educator jobs (preserving the Program at current levels), 361 custodial jobs, 75 health service positions, 80 classroom aide positions, and 140 secondary core teaching positions. Schools would have an additional $44 million (due to State matching funds) to preserve even more jobs than this. Although we wish we were not in the position to have to depend on this measure to save our jobs, this is an advantage of local taxation: you know exactly where the money is going. I could even tell you the names of the dance, music, theater and visual arts teachers whose jobs would be saved. When do you have that kind of accountability with your taxes?

Another Rationale: Providing our schools with adequate resources for safety, supervision, and of course arts instruction for all children are an incentive to keep kids in public schools, meaning even more jobs will be preserved.

Please vote YES on Measure E, June 8th!

Here is Steve Lopez' May 18 article in favor of the Parcel Tax:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0519-lopezcolumn-20100519,0,2974385.column

Update on Elementary Arts Funding

2010-04-27T21:36:00.000-07:00

As it stands, the budget cuts remain at 50% for all arts disciplines. Without additional funding, this would mean only one day of arts per school, and that day would be shared between two arts areas.

Appallingly, the district also is planning to cut the Arts Specialist positions for Dance, Theatre, Music, and Visual Arts. These are the only central administrators looking after each of these academic areas for the entire District, Pre-K through 12. The administration of Arts Instruction for the District would fall on three administrators: one for Elementary, one for Secondary, and one overseeing it all.

There are a few rays of light poking through the many dark clouds, however. In the District's drive to decentralize, the burden of funding the Elementary Arts Program has been pushed to individual school sites. The Arts Education Branch and UTLA are sending recommendations to principal and chapter chairs to share with School Site Councils: The one day provided centrally should be supplemented with two additional days of instruction purchased with school funds. If this happens, all elementary arts positions will be saved, and secondary arts teachers with probationary credentials will probably keep their jobs as well.

Even though we project that this situation will result in greater socioeconomic and racial inequities in access to arts education district wide, it is our best bet as it stands for saving the Program. We expect that schools in more affluent areas will find the necessary funds under the necessary parent pressure to retain the arts, while poorer schools are forced to balance among competing needs, leaving access to arts education inequitable across the district.

If you are a parent or teacher, please make your voice heard at your local elementary school to use school funds to purchase arts teacher days. The documents that can be referenced for purchasing positions are located at: http://drop.io/ARTS_SupportDocs http://drop.io/HowToBuyARTS

Also coming up is the parcel tax on the June 8th ballot, which includes arts instruction in the proposition language. We feel the District is using the Elementary Arts Program as a political pawn in the campaign to pass the parcel tax, perhaps a reason UTLA was unable to get the District to make concessions to save the Program. We (Elementary Arts Chapter Leadership) remain in support of the parcel tax. As the State's budget dysfunction seems to have no end in sight, we need to find local solutions. It remains unclear whether or not the projected $92.5 million raised by the $100-per-parcel, 4 year tax (that's $8.33 per month per plot of land within district boundaries) would save the Elementary Arts Program in entirety. Please pressure the School Board and Superintendent Cortines to guarantee that Parcel Tax funds will completely restore the Elementary Arts Program, if passed.

Onwards and Upwards!
Michael Blasi and Ginger Fox, Co-Chair and Chair, Elementary Arts Chapter, UTLA

KPCC interview with LAUSD music teacher Eloise Porter

2010-03-30T07:59:00.000-07:00

Music teacher facing layoff uses music to lift her spirits

http://www.scpr.org/news/2010/03/29/music-teacher-layoff/

Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/KPCC

L.A. Unified music teacher Eloise Porter has received a preliminary layoff notice.

March 29, 2010 | Adolfo Guzman-Lopez | KPCC

California educators say school districts have told about 20,000 teachers that by summer they may lose their jobs. One public school instructor tries to distract herself from the prospect of a layoff by concentrating on her work.

Los Angeles Unified music teacher Eloise Porter lugs dog-eared sheet music, an iPod, and a hip-slung microphone and speaker to four different schools each week. On this day she’s in the auditorium at Buchanan Middle School in Highland Park, leading fourth- and fifth-graders through lessons on pitch and harmony. As they warm up and begin she reminds them that they can do better.
"That's not your best tone boys and girls."
Their second attempt brings a smile to her face. "That’s my beautiful Buchanan chorus sound."
Like the math and English here, Porter helps these students build on skills they learned the previous year. The students tackle Hashivenu, a song in Hebrew that tests their skills. Porter says she's seen improvement.
"I’ve been at this school for eight years now. And when I came singing was not very good here. But I also see second grade, first grade, second grade, and third grade for classroom music. So by the time they get to fourth grade, most of them can sing on pitch and most of them are interested."
Music has accompanied every phase of her life. Her grandmother played the piano, and Eloise Porter studied music throughout her childhood in San Fernando Valley public schools. She began teaching music in the Valley 23 years ago. She organized her public school students into a community children’s chorus.
"That choir toured to Arizona, toured to San Francisco, it toured to Copenhagen, and Finland."
Porter has closely followed the budget cuts debate at LA Unified. She says it was a relief when the district’s school board didn’t approve layoffs of music teachers like her. But she believes that the four years she taught outside California have placed her low on the seniority totem pole. She received her Reduction In Force notice three weeks ago. In disbelief, she says.
"Why did I get this? I’m not supposed to get this and if this is real, what’s going to happen? Because I’m my sole support."
Porter maintains that the teachers union hasn’t done enough to ask her and other teachers what they’d do to avoid layoffs. "There are a lot of permanent teachers who did not receive RIF notices that would be willing to take some kind of a pay cut and some kind of furlough days if, rather than have thousands of people lose their jobs."
As a music instructor, Porter has seen the way singing and music shape young brains and prepare them for the rigors of learning. She worries that what she’s helped to build at Buchanan Middle School and other campuses won’t continue if she’s not back in the fall.
"Right now we have a music teacher who is at least one day a week at every single elementary school in the district. So what’s going to happen to the music teachers if they’re only 50 percent of those music teachers left, then 50 percent of the schools will have no music next year."
It’ll take four more years of teaching to earn a decent retirement pension, Porter says. The pressure is getting to many teachers, she adds - but not to her.
"When I’m with the kids, I’m with the kids, that’s what I do and I’m here for the kids and I love what I do. I also love music. I love to sing. I go sing in a chorus on Thursday nights. So you know, that helps. But music lifts everyone’s spirits, always."
Teacher Eloise Porter holds out hope that she can successfully challenge her preliminary pink slip when hearings begin in May.

LAUSD Arts Education Budget Update

2010-03-26T21:19:00.000-07:00

http://www.artsforla.org/node/896
March 25, 2010
The Campaign to Save Arts Education in LAUSD has reached a critical juncture. On March 15th, over 230 elementary arts teachers and arts specialists in dance, theatre, music, and visual arts received Reduction in Force notices, (aka, a Pink Slip). The proposed cuts are more than we expected. While still a worst-case scenario, if these proposed eliminations carry through to the final budget, they will effectively eliminate more than 50% of the elementary arts teaching positions. In addition, some middle and high school principals have already stated that they won’t fill the positions left vacant by the RIFed arts specialists at their schools, meaning, for example, that a high school could be left without a band program. Finally, the administration of arts education in LAUSD would be reduced from a staff of eight to a staff of three.
As you know, over the past couple of months we've been generating hundreds of letters to the LAUSD Board of Education in support of maintaining the elementary arts teaching positions at their current level. It is clear that we need to continue and build upon that momentum, and that we need to bring our message to Superintendent Cortines.
That's why over the next week our goal is to hit 1000 letters. We currently have about 850. We need to make sure that every parent, student and community member who wants to maintain quality arts education in LAUSD writes a letter. Once we hit this goal, we're going to send a special update to Superintendent Cortines with all the letters attached.
Click here to send your letter. Then share it on facebook.
If you have friends, neighbors, colleagues, or fellow parents in LAUSD, please forward this to them and let them know that we need their voices!
Thank you for your ongoing support in this effort.

LAUSD Administrators Union stands up for arts instruction

2010-03-07T18:52:00.000-08:00

From the AALA website: http://www.aalausd.org/

Week of March 1, 2010
PARTIAL PARCEL TAX CAMPAIGN, or DOES ANYONE CARE ABOUT CLASSROOMS AND LEARNING?

For the past six months, AALA has encouraged the Board of Education to realize that a parcel tax is needed to balance the massive cuts from Sacramento. We believed that cutting the arts, increasing class size, closing libraries, eliminating administrators, as well as cutting safety at schools was devastating to our mission as educators. Some sources believe that Sacramento has sufficient revenue but has made no decisions except to pass its problems down to the local school boards. AALA has been at the forefront in urging the District to take advantage of all flexibilities regarding the budget including shortening the school year and pursuing a parcel tax.

.... continued....

AALA believes that now is the time for action. The Superintendent should be given authority by the Board to state the case publicly for the parcel tax. Site administrators should be given clear instructions about the legal way to present parcel tax information so that they are not inappropriately advocating a
position. The Board President and Superintendent should implement a thoughtful campaign to reach out to all communities within the LAUSD boundaries. Right now, the District is spending money on consultants and outside attorneys instead of speaking up for the kids and schools who truly need this
money. Perhaps they are delirious with the $7 billion for construction, and they no longer care about instruction. There are 95 days until the election on June 8. It is time to get moving now!

Breaking News: Arts Included in LA City Parcel Tax Measure

2010-02-17T01:06:00.000-08:00

http://www.artsforla.org/news/breaking_news_arts_included_la_city_parcel_tax_measure

Earlier this morning, Arts for LA reported that the LAUSD school board would vote today on whether or not to put a parcel tax ballot measure on the June 2010 ballot. The proposed measure will help raise millions of dollars for the district. The summary parcel tax language did not include designated funding for the arts in the 75-word summary to be used in ballots for the June special election.

Within three hours, nearly 100 local advocates wrote to the School Board asking that the arts be included in the parcel tax summary language. The proposed language was: "To offset severe state budget cuts, improve student achievement in reading/mathematics/science/arts, maintain vocational education and job training programs…"

L.A. Unified to seek $100 parcel tax hike - latimes.com
2/17/10
[The Board of Education approved the ballot measure on a 5-1 vote, with Tamar Galatzan dissenting and Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte absent.

"We're funding [education] like a third-world country, and I have to take a stand and do something about it," said board member Richard Vladovic. "I'm voting to give parents the chance to say yes or no."]

Please write and thanks the Board Members who stood up on Tuesday for education in Los Angeles, and for including arts education in the parcel tax measure. Please ask all board members for their continued support in maintaining the Elementary Arts Programs:
http://advocate.artsforla.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1919
Thank you!

"Protect the Arts" DIY fold-and-send letter to the Board of Ed

2010-02-11T18:49:00.000-08:00

http://drop.io/saveartsfoldsend#

Feel free to print and distribute. Thanks!

Strength in Numbers: Defending LA Cultural Affairs Department's Funding

2010-02-06T13:03:00.000-08:00

The voice to maintain the arts in Los Angeles in the face of budget shortfalls is being heard. Let's extend this movement to arts education in our public schools!
From Arts for LA site:
"Thanks to your efforts, the Campaign to retain the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs' TOT allocation was a success.
Over 5,000 letters were generated to City Council members from their stakeholders. An additional 100 advocates attended Wednesday's city council meeting, in which 30 impassioned speakers voiced the value of arts and culture to the city and the communities they serve."
LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-et-culturalaffairs3-2010feb03,0,6772199.story
and
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/02/la-city-council-feels-heat-over-a-proposal-to-shut-off-the-municipal-artsfunding-pipeline-.html

Commentary:
Is Art Important?
Bettina Korek
Arts commentator and founder of ForYourArt (http://losangeles.foryourart.com/)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bettina-korek/this-week-in-art-is-art-i_b_450377.html

Elementary Arts Education Coalition Contact Form

2010-01-26T19:31:00.001-08:00

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What do public school teachers and prison guards have in common?

2010-01-25T19:40:00.000-08:00

No, not that.
We are both under attack from union-busting lobbies and the Governor in the same way.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-arnold-union25-2010jan25,0,3601107.story

More News:
Daily News 1/26/10
LAUSD may face a bigger budget hole: Cuts in state budget plan could mean loss of another $200 million.

LA TIMES Culture Monster Post: LAUSD board meets to discuss fate of elementary school arts education

2010-01-21T20:51:00.001-08:00

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/01/lausd-board-meets-to-discuss-fate-of-elementary-school-arts-education.html#comments

Principal Stephanie Harris, recently of Short Avenue Elementary School and now assigned to 54th Street Elementary School, presented the following to the LAUSD School Board at the Committee of the Whole on January 19, 2010.

(excerpt)

"Our API continued to grow at a modest rate, as we provided high quality first instruction, used data to drive our instruction and intervention, and used reflective cycles of instruction. Then in 2007, we became an APS School via the Arts Education Branch from whom we gained credentialed dance, theater, and visual arts teachers. These teachers, though only part-time at my school provided outstanding instruction in the various arts with direct correlations to Open Court, often making reading come alive for some of our most struggling students and allowing them to make connections to the curriculum in ways that some had never done before. Student morale was very high, disciplinary issues were almost non-existent. The only thing that was introduced that year was the arts program and nobody wanted to miss dance, art, music, or drama! No new intervention programs, no increase in Title 1 spending, no new textbooks in reading or math, no new core teachers...just art. Yet we were all stunned when our API shot up 44 points that year! Again, nothing was new to our school except for the arts! Could art have had such a significant impact on student achievement? I absolutely think so. "

The Wrap : Covering Hollywood: It's Time to Save Arts Education in L.A.

http://www.thewrap.com/blog-entry/its-time-save-arts-education-la-13326

Glee Creator Ryan Murphy's Shout Out for Arts Education at the Golden Globes

2010-01-18T10:27:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOHsAB7RjVs&feature=youtube_gdata

"Thank you to the Hollywood Foreign Press and Ms. Barbra Streisand. On behalf of our wonderful crew and our fake sexy teen cast, we would like to thank all of the wonderful people who actually thought a musical would work on prime time television... this show is about a lot of things, it's about the importance of arts education. And this is for anybody and everybody who got a wedgy in high school. Thank you."

Otis College of Art and Design - 2009 Report on the Creative Economy of the Los Angeles Region

2010-01-16T18:03:00.000-08:00

http://www.otis.edu/about/press/2009_creative_econ.html

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Blog "Shop Talk : a-b-c's and a-r-t-'s"

2010-01-16T17:15:00.000-08:00

http://www.laco.org/blog/429/
quote:
..."We’ve been masterfully swayed by the idea that it’s an elite minority – quaintly enlightened arts enthusiasts like you and me – who truly appreciate the importance of arts learning, while some vague, nameless majority of other people believe that the arts are some esoteric area of study (or worse, mere recreation) that exist in a realm completely disassociated from “real life.” But in fact, according to a 2005 Harris Poll, 93% of respondents said that the arts are essential to a complete education. I’d even go so far as to say that participating in creative activities, from drumming circles to painting with water colors, simultaneously takes us outside of ourselves and shows us how to search within – meaning that the arts are not only part of a well-rounded education, they are at the heart of it."...

-Michelle Weger

Arts Education Promotes Emotional Intelligence

2010-01-12T06:54:00.000-08:00

http://www.miller-mccune.com/news/arts-education-promotes-emotional-intelligence-1720

LA TIMES BLOG : Arts advocates mobilize to fight proposed L.A. Unified budget cuts

2010-01-07T22:02:00.000-08:00

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/01/arts-advocates-mobilize-to-fight-proposed-lausd-budget-cuts.html

Teachers seek control at up-for-bid L.A. Unified schools - latimes.com

2010-01-03T09:44:00.001-08:00

Teachers seek control at up-for-bid L.A. Unified schools - latimes.com

Three more good ones:

Broad Foundation training percolates deeply into L.A.'s school leadership - latimes.com
LAUSD gets $6 million in grants to help with school reform (Daily News)
Key L.A. Unified staff positions are funded privately - latimes.com

2009-12-10T21:13:00.000-08:00

Here's a link to a KCAL 9 News Report following the Rally at Beaudry Tuesday night, featuring an interview with dance teacher and UTLA Elementary Arts Chapter Chair Ginger Fox. Go Ginger!

Footage of the December 8th Rally at Beaudry, shot and edited by elementary music teacher Sam Liu. Thanks Sam!!!

Again, the petition to Maintain the Integrity of the Arts Instructional Programs of LAUSD
http://www.petitiononline.com/la4arts/petition.html
>En Español<

Interested in collecting signatures on paper? A PDF of the petition packet to be printed out may be downloaded at: http://drop.io/lyjftth
Deadline: Please return completed petition packets to:
Michael Blasi
PO BOX 292337
LA CA 90029
by January 20, 2010.
blasikin at gmail dot com

"Will LAUSD budget stop the music?" 12/5/09 article in the Daily News

2009-12-06T15:24:00.000-08:00

http://www.dailynews.com/ci_13931116

Petition to Maintain the Integrity of LAUSD’s Arts Instructional Programs

2009-12-03T16:13:00.000-08:00

NOW ONLINE AT : http://www.petitiononline.com/la4arts/petition.html

Interested in collecting signatures on paper? A PDF of the petition packet to be printed out may be downloaded at: http://drop.io/lyjftth

Deadline: Please return completed petition packets to Michael Blasi PO BOX 292337 LA CA 90029 by January 20, 2010.

________________________________________________

To: Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education Members: Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte, Monica Garcia, Tamar Galatzan, Richard Vladovic, Yolie Flores, Nury Martinez, Steve Zimmer; Superintendent Of Schools Ramon C. Cortines

Background:
On February 9, 1998, the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Board of Education unanimously adopted a Resolution to Restore Arts Education as an essential part of the core curriculum for all students. In 1999, the Board adopted the Arts Education Plan, which ensures comprehensive, quality education in Dance, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts by providing resources necessary to implement arts programs to every child, K-12.

Since that time, articulated arts programs have been established across the District from elementary to secondary serving as a powerful factor in motivating student interest in school. Through the implementation of the Elementary Arts Program, which was expanded in the 2009-2010 school year to include all elementary schools, over 3 million elementary students have received arts instruction by highly-qualified arts educators. LAUSD is the only large urban district in the United States that provides an equitable standards-based arts education for all of its elementary students by giving them the opportunity to experience all of the four arts disciplines through the Elementary Arts Program.

Yet in June of 2009, after ten years of growth and restoration of arts education, the LAUSD Board of Education passed a three-year budget that includes a 50% cut to the Elementary Arts Program for the 2010-2011 school year, and the elimination of the entire Program for 2011-2012. Superintendent Ramon Cortines and Board of Education Members have demonstrated support for the District’s Arts Programs in the past but are now faced with difficult budget decisions.

Full Petition Text:
"We can't afford to cut Arts Education for our children and the children of the future!!!

• We have come too far as a District - not only in restoring arts education, but in becoming a nationally recognized leader in arts education - to step back now.

• Arts are a primary, central, academic core subject that must be funded as consistently as math, language arts, science and history/social science.

• The proposed cuts to the Elementary Arts Program will have deep ramifications to arts programs at the secondary level, resulting in displaced teachers and leaving students less prepared for arts instruction in middle and high school.

• We do not think it reasonable for LAUSD students and employees to shoulder the entire responsibility for our statewide budget deficits with salary
reductions, staff reductions and cuts to vital instructional programs and support services. We must all share the obligation of our children's education.

• We advocate that non-essential, non-school based services, and any non-instructional program be considered for cuts prior to approving any reductions to instructional programs, including the Elementary Arts Program.

• We advocate that the LAUSD Education Foundation (501(c)(3) non-profit) be utilized to help support and preserve the integrity of the Elementary Arts
Program.

• We advocate for statewide and local legislative changes, including local parcel taxes, in order to create more sustainable and locally controlled funding sources for education.

We as concerned citizens, in endorsing the principles and proposals set forth above, are holding Superintendent Cortines and the Board of Education to their commitment to arts education, and to the consistent funding of LAUSD’s Arts Education Programs now and into the future."

(en español)

A los miembros de Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education: Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte, Monica Garcia, Tamar Galatzan, Richard Vladovic, Yolie Flores, Nury Martinez, Steve Zimmer; superintendente escolar Ramon C. Cortines

Antecedentes:
El 9 de febrero de 1998, la Junta Educativa del Distrito Escolar de Los Angeles aprobó por unanimidad una resolución para restaurar la educación artística como una parte esencial del currículo para todos los estudiantes. En 1999, la Junta aprobó el Plan de Educación de Artes, que garantiza la educación comprensiva y de calidad en Danza, Música, Teatro y Artes Visuales, proporcionando los recursos necesarios para poner en práctica los programas de arte para todos los niños K-12.

Desde ese momento, los programas de arte integrados en todo los grados se han establecido en todo el distrito de las escuelas primarias hasta la escuelas secundarias sirviendo como un factor importante en la motivación del estudiante para mantener su interés en la escuela. A través de la implementación del programa de arte a nivel primaria, que se amplió en el año escolar 2009-2010 para incluir a todas las escuelas primarias, mas de tres millones de estudiantes de primaria han recibido instrucción en arte por educadores altamente calificados en las artes. LAUSD es el único distrito urbano grande en los Estados Unidos que proveé educación en las artes de manera equitativa para todos sus estudiantes de primaria, dándoles la oportunidad de experimentar todas las cuatro disciplinas de las artes a través del programa de arte a nivel primaria.

Sin embargo, en junio del 2009, después de diez años de crecimiento y la restauración de la educación artística, la Junta Educativa de LAUSD aprobó un presupuesto para tres años que incluye un recorte del 50% al programa de arte a nivel primaria para el año escolar 2010-2011, y la eliminación de todo el programa para 2011-2012. El superintendente Ramón Cortines y la Junta Educativa de los miembros han demostrado un apoyo para las programs de las artes del distrito en el pasado pero ahora se encuentran enfrentados por decisiones presupuestarias muy difíciles.

Nuestra solicitud de peticiones:
"No podemos negar la Educación Artística a nuestros hijos y a los hijos del futuro!

• Hemos llegado demasiado lejos como un Distrito - no sólo en el restablecimiento de la educación artística, tambien se ha convertido en un líder reconocido a nivel nacional en la educación artística. No podemos dar un paso atrás.

• Las Artes son primordiales; un tema central académico que deben ser financiados como siempre, como las matemáticas, el lenguaje, las ciencias y la historia / las ciencias sociales.

• Los recortes de presupuestos para el programa de las artes a nivel primaria tendrá consecuencias profundas y desestablizadoras para los programas de arte a nivel secundario, desplazando maestros y dejando a los estudiantes menos preparados para la instrucción en las artes de las escuelas secundarias.

• No creemos que sea razonable para los estudiantes ni para los empleados de LAUSD asumir toda la responsabilidad de nuestro déficit presupuestario de
todo el estado con la reducción de salarios, reducción de personal y recortes en los programas de enseñanza y servicios de apoyo que son escenciales para todo estudiante. Todos debemos compartir la carga de la educación de nuestros hijos.

• Abogamos para que consideren recortar primero a todos los servicios no escenciales, servicios no relacionados directamente con las escuelas y programs que no son relacionados a la instrucción antes de aprobar cortes a cualquier programa de instrucción incluyendo al programa de arte a nivel primaria.

• Abogamos para que la fundación de educación del LAUSD (501 (c) (3) sin fines de lucro) se utilizarán para ayudar y preservar al Programa de Arte a Nivel Primaria.

• Estamos a favor de cambios legislativos a nivel estatal y local, incluyendo los impuestos de paquetería local, a fin de crear las fuentes de financiamiento para la educación que sean fuentes más sostenibles y controlables a nivel local.

Nosotros, como padres de familia interesados, al refrendar los principios y las propuestas anteriormente enunciadas, piden que el Superintendente Cortines y la Junta Educativa se mantengan fieles a su compromiso con la educación artística, y para un financiamiento consistente y coherente para los programas de arte en LAUSD ahora y en el futuro."

Atentamente, El suscrito

This petition was written by LAUSD Elementary Arts Teachers, November 2009
Esta petición fue escrita por los Maestros de Arte de LAUSD, noviembre 2009