Policy Recommendations

The following recommendations are designed to ensure greater access to arts education in city high schools, particularly schools currently underserved in the arts. These recommendations can further be expanded to apply to schools at all levels.

Expand Course Offerings in the Arts
As demonstrated in this report, one third more graduates exceeded the minimum course requirements in the arts at schools with high graduation rates compared with their peers in schools with low graduation rates. Providing students with a wider array of course offerings in the arts should be a priority of principals at schools with low graduation rates.

Expand Student Access to the City’s Cultural Arts Sector
New York City’s array of arts and cultural resources can enrich the education and lives of its schoolchildren. While many
schools take advantage of these opportunities, the findings in this report suggest that access to these resources—through attendance at events or exhibits and cultural partnerships—is not equitable across schools. Providing greater access for all students should be a goal for school leaders, policymakers, cultural institutions, and other relevant stakeholders.

Ensure All Schools Have Certified Arts Teachers
With approximately 20 percent of high schools and 30 percent of schools overall lacking a certified arts teacher on staff, the city is falling short in the effort to provide students with instruction by a teacher certified in the subject area they teach. Education leaders should ensure that all schools have an adequate number of certified arts teachers on staff to meet the state requirements, especially at high schools struggling to graduate students on time. These teachers should work in tandem with teaching artists and non-arts subject area teachers at each school and be provided ample opportunity to participate in professional development in the arts.

Require Adequate Classroom Space for Arts Instruction
The disparities in access to dedicated and appropriately equipped arts classrooms described in this report, coupled with official recognition, from both the New York City Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education, about the importance of arts spaces to quality arts instruction, should lead the city to ensure that all schools are adequately equipped to support instruction in the arts.

Dedicate Resources to Support Arts Instruction
Project Arts was a catalyst in restoring arts education to city public schools after a sharp decline in the 1970s. Since the city lifted the requirement that principals spend Project Arts funds directly on the arts at the beginning of the 2007–08 school year, there has been an overall decline in the percentage of a school’s budget spent on the arts, including a decrease in school spending on the hiring of arts teachers, the purchase of supplies and instruments, and the contracting of services from arts and cultural organizations to deliver arts education directly to students. Restoring this mandated per-pupil allocation for all schools would spur investment in these core elements of a vibrant arts education program.

Ensure School Compliance with Existing State Regulations for Arts Instruction
Ensuring compliance with laws already in place would be an important step in reducing educational inequities and providing students with the arts instruction outlined by the State Education Department from kindergarten through graduation. At the high school level this would ensure that schools offer students the requisite credits and coursework, taught by certified teachers, and the opportunity to take a multiyear arts sequence in at least one of the four arts forms.