CITYWIDE — Supporters of a county art plan say the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District only needs to contribute 2 percent more of its budget to create a permanent arts education for all K-12 students.
The SMMUSD earmarked $3.5 million this year — 3.4 percent of its general operating budget — toward arts education.
However, the Los Angeles Arts Commission — the group which organized Arts for All, the 10-year plan to bring all K-12 students in the county an arts education — say that if the SMMUSD kicked in another $2.5 million of its budget, it would ensure all local students receive an arts curriculum from the time they enter kindergarten until the time they graduate.
“We want to go from making our arts program good to making it great,” said Tom Whaley, the district’s art coordinator.
Currently, the district's arts programs benefit from: an education foundation; parent-teacher organizations that raise money to supplement state funding; a 2003 voter-approved parcel tax for schools; and contributions from both the cities of Santa Monica and Malibu.
Santa Monica High School has five orchestras — one of which played at New York's Carnegie Hall in 2002 — six choral groups, several bands, advanced placement art classes and an art gallery that features the work of community professionals, students and faculty.
Arts for all organizers admit Santa Monica is a step ahead when it comes to establishing a permanent creative curriculum for students.
However, even with all the financial help, parents still are asked to pitch in for paintbrushes, canvases and other materials. The budget for supplies — less than $7 per student each semester — is still inadequate, said Amy Bouse, an Advanced Placement art teacher.
"It's certainly good to have that support and advocacy," Bouse said of Arts for All, the county’s plan. "But in terms of real change, it's not yet palpable."
Two years after the district signed on in 2003, Whaley believes the county's approach is the way to go.
"This is about systemic change," Whaley said.
The county offered assistance to school districts that commit to adding to their arts programs. Sixteen districts have signed up.
It’s a modest program, at least in terms of making up for years of diminished funding for the arts, advocates said. Many of the county's 1,800 public schools provide a spotty arts program at best. And, the emphasis on standardized testing coupled with district budget shortages in recent years have left arts educators wondering whether their subjects will ever be a school priority.
But Arts for All creators believe that having school boards approve long-range policies will help restore arts education at all levels.
The infrastructure to support a high quality, sequential K-12 arts education is measured by five factors. These include: an arts education policy adopted by the ■ The Arts Commission also created a web site, http://www.laartsed.org, listing more than 175 programs that meet California arts curriculum standards and that schools can use. The service is available to all schools, regardless of whether their districts have joined Arts for All.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 24, 2005. Read the original PDF.