Government Relations

The Center for Arts Education serves as a resource to inform elected officials about policy issues pertaining to arts education. We believe that participation in arts learning is essential to every child’s education and it is our goal to build support for this crucial issue at the government level. Over the past decade, New York City has made tremendous gains towards providing equal access to arts education for its public schools students, but there remains much work to be done. CAE continues to provide research and information that can assist government officials in developing a comprehensive platform on education that includes the arts. Scroll down to find out if your district’s representatives are supporters of arts education. Please encourage them to sign our Pledge of Support to provide equitable arts education for all New York City public school students.

Elected Officials Sign Pledge to Support Arts Education

Government officials, key policymakers and leaders from major cultural organizations attended CAE’s Government Affairs Breakfast on June 25th, 2007 to learn about and discuss emerging policy issues that relate to providing school students the opportunity to participate in the arts. Attendees were asked to sign a pledge to support initiatives that will provide access to arts education in every school for every child and bring New York City back to compliance with New York State’s minimum arts education requirements. The following elected officials have already signed a pledge in support of helping NYC schools reach NYS requirements for arts education:

Pledge to Support Arts Education

ARTS EDUCATION IS IMPORTANT TO ME
because it is important to the future of my city and its residents.Arts Education helps to build skills demanded by 21st century employers and New York City’s one million plus public school children must be equipped to compete in that marketplace.I believe that every child in New York City has the right to a comprehensive, quality, intellectually-stimulating education and that such an education must include the arts.
Therefore, I pledge to support initiatives that will provide access to arts education in every school for every child and bring New York City back into compliance with New York State’s minimum arts education requirements which state:To ensure a balanced curriculum, the State Education Department recommends the following time allocations for the Arts throughout the school year:

  • In grades 1-3, 20% of the weekly time spent in school should be allocated to dance, music, theatre and visual arts; in grade 4, 10% of the weekly time spent in school should be allocated to dance, music, theatre and visual arts.
  • In grades 5 & 6, 10% of the weekly time spent in school should be allocated to dance, music, theatre and visual arts.
    • A. Visual arts and music be taught to all students in both grades 7 and 8 and final examinations that address the expectations in all four Arts Standards should be given in both visual arts and music courses
    • B. General requirements for Regents or local high school diploma include one unit of credit for visual arts and/or music, dance, or theater.

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