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Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is The Center for Arts Education?
A. The Center for Arts Education (CAE) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that New York City public school students receive quality arts learning throughout their K-12 education.

Q. What does The Center for Arts Education do?
A. CAE is the only organization in New York providing school based arts residencies in all dance, music, theatre and visual arts, professional development for education leaders, and advocacy on behalf of New York City’s more than 1.1 million public school students. Download our brochure.

We positively impact the lives and education of children by:

  • Providing school-based arts residencies in dance, music, theatre and visual arts
  • Raise awareness of the value of arts learning for every child and the need for equitable arts education opportunities in the New York City public schools.
  • Providing tools, resources, and support for educators, parents, elected officials, and others to implement and advocate for a sound, well-rounded education that includes the arts.
  • Influencing educational and fiscal policies that will support arts education in all of the city's public schools.

Q. What are CAE’s strategic goals?

  1. Ensure all New York City public schools integrate high-quality arts learning and teaching into the education of every student K-12.
  2. Mobilize a broad community of supporters of arts education for all public school students.
  3. Improve the quality of teaching and learning through professional development for principals, classroom teachers and teaching artists.
  4. Raise awareness of the value of arts education and the work of CAE
  5. Build support with elected officials, education decision-makers, parents, the public and other stakeholders to support policies that improve and expand access to quality arts instruction.

Q. Why are the arts important to a quality public school education?
A. CAE believes that every child in every school has the right to a well-rounded education of which the arts are an essential ingredient. Quality arts education is central to a complete education—and it is required by state law.

Beyond having great value in and of themselves, the arts:

  • Promote the health and well-being of children
  • Engage students more fully in school, motivating them to learn and succeed
  • Help at-risk kids stay in school and graduate on time
  • Play a key role in the development of a child’s cognitive, analytic and creative skills
  • Build a child’s confidence and self-expression
  • Offer students channels for emotional expression and healing
  • Provide a gateway to careers in NYC’s $21 billion creative sector

Learn more about what we believe in our Arts Education Bill of Rights.

Q. What are CAE’s teaching and learning programs?
A. Teaching and Learning builds sustainable, arts-rich school communities through innovative school-based arts programming and collaboration with teachers and school leaders as well as cultural and community organizations—help build arts-infused school communities.

Our teaching and learning programs include:

  • Parents As Arts Partners (PAAP) A school-based family arts program, PAAP engages parents and their children in hands-on, interactive arts education activities, including workshops with teaching artists and school arts teachers and visits to cultural organizations.
  • Career Development Program (CDP) CDP creates outstanding opportunities for high school students and educators to participate in school-to-career activities in the arts and creative sector. The program’s primary goal is to expose students, teachers, counselors and administrators to the many career options in New York City’s $21 billion arts industry.
  • School Arts Support Initiative (SASI) This innovative school-based program was created for underserved New York City public middle schools with little or no arts education. The goal is to help develop the capacity needed to transform these schools into arts-rich communities.
  • Special Education programs help students with disabilities, particularly those on the autism spectrum, to achieve their full potential through the integration of arts into the core curriculum. For example, the Teaching Artist Training Institute  prepares teaching artists to address the special needs of these students.
  • Professional Development gives principals, teachers and teaching artists the knowledge, skills and inspiration that will help them bring quality arts programming into their schools. The CAE Principals Institute, for example, helps school leaders create an arts-rich school community.

Q. What are New York State’s instructional requirements for the arts?
A. The New York State Education Department requires that all elementary schools offer instruction in four arts disciplines (visual arts, music, theater and dance) to every student; that middle school and high school students complete a least one full unit of study (two courses/credits) in the arts; and that each public school district provide high school students with the opportunity to complete a three or five-unit arts sequence).

For more information on the state requirements, view the guidelines and/or download the learning standards.

Q. How can I learn more about ways to ensure that every child in every school has arts education?
A. Whether you are a parent, teacher, teaching artist, community leader or elected official, there are many ways you can participate in CAE’s campaigns to ensure that every child in every school has arts education. Join CAE's Arts Education Action Network now.

CAE helps parents become arts education advocates for children. We also work to educate policy-makers and the public about the need for arts education as an essential part of a well-rounded education and an essential contributor to children’s health and well-being.

Visit www.caenyc.org to:

  • Join the Arts Education Action Network: Learn about issues in arts education and visit our action center  to take action to support quality arts education.
  • Download our free Parent Guides to understand how arts education benefits children.
  • Make a donation to support our activities.
  • Take advantage of our free online resources.
  • Apply to the Parents As Arts Partners program to build family arts programming and activities in your community.
  • Become a Career Development Program work site (contact careerdevelopment@caenyc.org) for student interns.
  • Participate in Professional Development activities and learn how to embed arts learning in your school’s curricula.
  • Read about our current campaigns to restore quality arts education for every child in every school.
  • Join our Arts Education Action Network, a growing coalition of parents, educators, arts and community organizations, and businesses working to ensure that every child in every school receives a quality arts education.

Q. How does CAE advocate for quality arts education?
A. CAE works with elected officials, community groups, parents and others to fight for a quality K–12 arts education for all children. We help parents become champions for arts in their children’s education—at home, school and at every level of government. We provide free publications to help parents understand how arts education benefits their children and learn about resources available in their schools and communities. We release timely reports and data to highlight the importance of arts education and its status in public schools and provide thought-leadership on arts education issues. We encourage elected officials and policy-makers to support quality arts education in NYC public schools.

Q. What has CAE’s research found about the importance of arts education?
A. CAE’s landmark report—Staying in School: Arts Education and New York City High School Graduation Rates—links arts education to higher graduation rates. Good schools have the arts, and students in schools with little access to arts instruction are struggling to graduate.

Based on an analysis of data from more than 200 high schools (the largest number for which consistent, comprehensive data was available) over a two-year span, schools with the highest graduation rates offer the most access and resources to support arts education, as measured across nine separate indicators of the resources necessary to provide quality arts education. Students at schools with the lowest graduation rates have the least access to the benefits of quality instruction in the arts.

Q. What are CAE’s policy recommendations to improve access to arts education in NYC public schools?
A. CAE recommends:

  • The city should ensure minimum funding for arts education and the City Council should pass resolution #837 to once again provide all schools with a minimum per-pupil funding allocation to be spent directly on the arts.
  • The city and state should ensure compliance with state requirements for arts instruction.
  • Every school should have at minimum one certified arts teacher on staff in one of the four required art forms.
  • The city should require that all schools provide adequate space for arts instruction
  • High school principals should expand course offerings in the four arts disciplines and provide all students with an opportunity to exceed the minimum graduation requirement of successful completion of two courses (one unit of credit) in the arts.
  • The city should implement policies and dedicate resources to ensure that all students have access to the city’s vibrant and diverse cultural arts sector.

Q. How can I support CAE’s efforts to ensure quality arts learning for every New York City public school student?
A. You can make a donation to CAE. Your gift, large or small, will support our school based programs and advocacy efforts.

  • To make your gift online, please visit our safe and secure donation page.
  • To send your gift by mail, please send your check to:
    The Center for Arts Education
    Development Office
    14 Penn Plaza, 225 W. 34th Street, Suite 1112
    New York, NY 10122.
  • To give a gift over the telephone, please call: 212.971.3300, ext 311.