The Impact of the Economic Crisis on the State Budget

Good afternoon Chair Farrell and members of the Assembly Committee on Ways and Means. My name is Lori Sherman, I am the Director of Development for The Center for Arts Education, a former teaching artist, and the parent of a New York City public school student who benefits from NYSCA-supported arts programs.

 

I am proud to work for The Center for Arts Education, an organization that is committed to restoring, stimulating, and sustaining quality arts education as an essential part of every child’s education.

 

I am here today to share my associates' and even my son’s school's concerns with the proposed budget reduction plan and the impact it would have on arts and arts education in New York State. While we applaud the Governor for proactively addressing the state’s fiscal challenges, we urge the State Legislature to balance any cuts that might be necessary across sectors and not disproportionally distress New York’s arts and education sector.  

 

From personal experience in New York schools, I know the impact of a NYSCA grant. From school trips to museums and concert performances to visual arts and music and dance classes in the school, the benefits are incredibly rich and profound. At my son’s school—he is one of the lucky ones—there are arts programs, music, and visual arts—not enough, but some. In my role with The Center for Arts Education I have visited many schools—too many that do not have any arts programs, no art on the walls, no arts teachers, no arts learning taking place—and to be candid, it leaves me cold. And if you walked into these schools, you would feel the same. At my son’s school, the parents often step up to the plate—because they can—they make donations, get involved, offer time and opportunity—but that does not happen at many of our public schools. And this is where NYSCA grants are essential.  At The Center for Arts Education we are working to bring arts education to schools that might not have a parent body that can step up to the plate, we use NYSCA funds as do many arts and cultural organizations to bring arts to underserved schools and children—NYSCA funding is making a difference in these children’s lives

 

In New York City 30 percent of schools do not have a single arts specialist, and only 8 percent of the elementary schools and less than 50 percent of all middle school provide the arts education that is mandated by you, the New York State Legislature.  

 

The Governor proposed a $7 million cut to the state arts budget. This, on top of the 6 percent already cut from the Council’s budget a short time ago, is a reduction from $49 million to $39 million midyear. This cut could mean that almost 400 grantees in the October and 400 in the December cycle would receive almost no funding. And this directly impacts the children—they are left with no arts education programs in their schools—no visual art, no music, no dance, no theater.

 

Last year, CAE received two NYSCA grants totaling $46,400. This money directly supported our work in underserved schools in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island. The funds support our middle school initiative, helping to create exciting and sustainable arts programming in schools that have little or no arts education, and they support our work at PS37R in Staten Island, a special education school where the arts are making a real impact for children on the autism spectrum, and our Principals Institute, where we are helping principals to help their students and creating an arts rich environment in their schools—all of these programs rely on funding provided through NYSCA.

 

CAE’s current request to NYSCA was to be reviewed at the October 22 panel. But as we all know, the October panel was indefinitely postponed, leaving funding for CAE’s school arts programs in limbo.  And now we may be scrambling to find a way to maintain these programs.

 

But I need to note that CAE is not alone, and I am also here on behalf of the many other cultural organizations which would be impacted, organizations that, like CAE, provide critical services to our children in public school.

 

New York has more than 700 museums, historical societies, and cultural organizations that provide education programs that engage more than 4 million New York children, instilling in them a lasting love of learning, enriching their lives, and helping them to become creative thinkers and doers—you must admit that is quite spectacular. Now imagine this—these organizations lose their NYSCA funding, which they use to support arts education programs in schools—and the schools, which pay a modest fee for the arts service, have already had their budget slashed with more cuts to come (I already received the e-mail from my school—$43,000 so far this year, and likely more than double that for next year). So what happens—schools are forced to make impossible choices, and between no NYSCA funds and no school funds—the arts provider simply disappears—and who suffers? Surely the artists who work in the schools, but even more so, it is our children who lose. And let’s not fool ourselves here—without a doubt it will be the under-resourced and underserved schools that are hit hardest.

 

Now, even beyond the educational impact which is of primary concern, think about the significant economic impact of the arts. The arts industry is a major generator of jobs, wages, and taxes in New York State, and the arts provide quality of life. The arts are not an extra or a benefit, but I will not argue that point now, I will simply note that it is estimated that the arts:

 

The Center for Arts Education recognizes that the arts and education community will not be immune to budget cuts; however, we believe the current proposal disproportionately affects both of these critical sectors. We urge you to:

 

I thank you for your thoughtful consideration of these suggestions and the opportunity to testify today.