REQUIRE COMPREHENSIVE DATA COLLECTION IN THE VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS

WHEREAS, all students deserve equal access to a balanced, comprehensive, high-quality education, including a robust offering of curriculum, instruction, and courses in the visual and performing arts (VAPA): dance, music, theater and the visual arts; and

WHEREAS, the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, designates the arts as one of the “core academic subjects,” along with English, math, science, foreign languages and social studies; and

WHEREAS, the California Education Code (Sections 51210 and 51220) mandates that the adopted course of study for all pupils in grades 1–12 must include visual and performing arts education, including instruction and courses in the subjects of dance, music, theater and visual arts; and

WHEREAS, in 1994, the federal government adopted comprehensive and sequential National Standards for Arts Education, Kindergarten through Grade Twelve in the disciplines of dance, music, theater and visual arts, which outline what every K-12 student should know and be able to do in the arts. The national standards have been adopted or adapted by 49 state departments of education, and have become the benchmark document by which visual and performing arts learning is measured; and

WHEREAS, in 1996, the California State Board of Education adopted (and rewrote and readopted in 2004) the Visual and Performing Arts Framework for California Public Schools, Kindergarten through Grade Twelve, which asks “that all education stakeholders—including families, artists, community groups . . . —collaborate with schools to ensure that students have a variety of experiences for imagining, exploring, and creating the Visual and Performing Arts”; and

WHEREAS, in 2001, the California State Board of Education adopted sequential Visual and Performing Arts Content Standards for California Public Schools, Prekindergarten through Grade Twelve, in the discrete disciplines of dance, music, theater and visual arts; and

WHEREAS, parents, policymakers, arts educators, and the general public need more information at the state level to determine the opportunities in the visual and performing arts available to our students. Collecting and publicly reporting the status and condition of arts education, in addition to other core academic subjects, is critical to ensuring equitable access to a comprehensive education for all students:

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers advocate to require the state of California to collect, and report to the public annually, comprehensive information about the status and condition of visual and performing arts education, in addition to the information collected about all other core academic subjects. Such information shall be collected separately in each of the VAPA subject areas (dance, music, theater, visual arts) that are described in the Education Code 51210 and 51220, and in the state-adopted VAPA Framework and Standards PreK-12, in regard to:

• Student enrollment in visual and performing arts classes
• Percentage of total student population per school enrolled in VAPA K-12 classes
• Student demographics
• Full-time equivalent teachers assigned to each school
• Pupil/teacher ratios
• Amount of instructional time devoted to visual and performing arts instruction preK-12
• Number of VAPA courses offered at each school
  • For graduation credit
  • For university admission
  • For Advanced Placement
• Average class size and class size distribution
• Budget allocation; expenditures per pupil
• Teacher subject certification: core academic classes taught by highly qualified teachers (as required by the federal ESEA):
  • With full credential or subject matter authorization in a specific arts discipline
  • Without full credential or subject matter authorization in a specific arts discipline
  • Teaching outside subject area of competence (such as credentialed English teachers teaching theater, or physical education teachers teaching dance, without completion of, at minimum, 32 units in arts subject area)
• Misassignments
• Vacant teacher positions
• Quality and availability of sufficient curricular textbooks and instructional materials
• Quality and availability of adequate and appropriate facilities
• Professional development opportunities
• Other such measures; and

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers advocate nationally this reporting. Only through a nationwide strategy will the public have an accurate picture of whether or not our public schools are providing all of our students equitable access and opportunity to a comprehensive education, including a well-rounded visual and performing arts education.