BILL ANALYSIS
ACR 26
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
ACR 26 (Davis)
As Introduced February 18, 2009
Majority vote
ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT, SPORTS 8-0
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Davis, Silva, | | |
| |Blumenfield, | | |
| |Charles Calderon, De | | |
| |Leon, Gaines, Krekorian, | | |
| |Audra Strickland | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY : Proclaims the month of March 2009 as Arts Education
Month and encourages all elected officials to participate with
their educational communities in celebrating the arts with
meaningful activities and programs for pupils, teachers, and the
public that demonstrate learning and understanding in the visual
and performing arts, and urges all residents to become
interested in and give full support to quality school arts
programs for children and youth. Specifically, this resolution
makes the following legislative findings:
1)Arts education, which includes dance, music, theatre, and the
visual arts, is an essential and integral part of basic
education for all pupils in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten,
and grades 1 to 12, inclusive.
2)The arts are crucial to achieving a state educational policy
that is devoted to the teaching of basic academic skills and
lifelong learning capacities with the goal of truly preparing
all children for success after high school regardless of
gender, age, economic status, physical ability, or learning
ability.
3)A systematic, substantive, and sequential visual and
performing arts curriculum addresses and develops ways of
thinking, questioning, expression, and learning that
complement learning in other core subjects, but that is unique
in what it has to offer.
ACR 26
Page 2
4)Pupils benefit from arts learning in the areas of cultural
understanding, readiness for learning and creative thinking,
cognitive outcomes, emotional intelligence and expression,
social interaction and collaboration, preparation for the
workplace and lifelong learning.
5)Arts education in California is mandated for pupils in grades
1 to 12, inclusive, by Education Code Sections 51210 and
51220, which provide, in part, "[t]he adopted course of study
... shall include instruction ... in [v]isual and performing
arts including instruction in the subjects of dance, music,
theatre, and visual arts, aimed at the development of
aesthetic appreciation and the skills of creative expression."
6)The arts are recognized as part of a quality education, and
the University of California and the California State
University have instituted a policy that includes visual and
performing arts as a college preparatory subject for all high
school pupils wishing to enter California's institutions of
higher education.
7)In 2006, the Legislature passed and Governor Schwarzenegger
signed into law a landmark investment in music and arts
education programs, including a block grant of $105 million to
support standards-aligned instruction in kindergarten and
grades 1 to 12, inclusive.
8)In 2006, the Legislature also passed and Governor
Schwarzenegger signed into law an additional $500 million to
be distributed on a one-time basis for the purchase of visual
and performing arts and physical education professional
development supplies and equipment.
9)The Legislature intends this funding to help implement a
comprehensive vision for arts education at the local level, to
ensure that every pupil in California benefits from this
investment.
10) Many national and state professional arts education
associations hold celebrations in the month of March, giving
California schools a unique opportunity to focus on the value
of the arts for all pupils, to foster cross-cultural
understanding, to give recognition to the state's outstanding
young artists, and to enhance public support for this
ACR 26
Page 3
essential part of the curriculum.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : The California Arts Advocates write the committee in
support of this resolution, saying, "To succeed in today's
economy of ideas, students must master the use of words, images,
sounds and motion to communicate. The arts provide the skills
and knowledge students need to develop the creativity and
determination necessary to succeed in today's global information
age." California Alliance for Arts Education further explains
the need for this resolution, adding that while the arts are
considered one of the core subjects in the No Child Left Behind
law, and public opinion polls and numerous research articles
support the instrumental benefits of arts education, arts
education programs statewide are threatened by the current
budget crisis. "The new state budget reduces the block grant by
15% this year, and an additional 4.9% next year. More
important, it gives districts full discretion about allocating
these funds. Already, school board hearings are taking place in
districts across the state, slashing arts and music programs
amid protest from parents, students, educators and other art
education advocates."
Analysis Prepared by : Dana Mitchell / A.,E.,S.,T. & I.M. /
(916) 319-3450
FN: 0000197