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Empowering Teachers to Advocate for Federal and State Arts Education Policy

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Empowering Teachers to Advocate for Federal and State Arts Education Policy
By Amanda Karhuse, NAfME Assistant Executive Director for Advocacy
and Public Policy
Following the May announcement of a new partnership to amplify the value of arts education through joint advocacy work, the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), the National Art Education Association (NAEA), the National Association for Media Arts Education (NAMAE), the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) co-hosted a webinar during National Arts in Education Week on September 10 to update members on key federal and state policy issues impacting arts educators.
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which Congress passed in 2015, shifted the focus from core academic subjects to a well-rounded education, and “arts” and “music” were both listed in the definition. Moving forward, a priority for our organizations is to ensure that policymakers at all levels clarify in legislation and guidance that the arts include all five disciplines: dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual arts.
The organizations have been actively advocating for federal funding under ESSA that can be used to support a well-rounded education (Titles I, II, and IV-A) and the Assistance for Arts Education program. Funding for some of these key programs would be eliminated or severely cut in the House Appropriations Committee FY 2025 bill with the justification that funding provided by the U.S. Department of Education “should be focused on core education such as reading, writing, and math.” As the appropriations process heated up over the summer, an advocacy campaign was launched in July with more than 1,000 arts educators sending 3,000+ messages to their members of Congress. With the upcoming election in November, Congress is expected to pass a continuing resolution and delay final action on the FY 2025 budget until later this fall or early 2025.

Utah Music Educators Association leaders in a 2024 NAfME Hill Day meeting with a member of Congress, accompanied by Amanda Karhuse and NAfME President-Elect Cecil Adderley. Photo by © Ashlee Wilcox Photography, LLC
We also collaborated with the NAMM Foundation to launch the annual survey on the use of federal funds to support music and arts in September. Data for the 2023–24 school year will help policymakers understand the funding sources for arts education and the multitude of unmet needs schools could address with additional funding. The survey will be open until November 15, and arts educators are encouraged to consult with district-level staff who oversee federal programs and would know best about the dollar amount and use of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds and Titles I, II, and IV-A funds in your schools.
EdTA, NAEA, NAMAE, NAfME, and NDEO advocate for legislation to ensure equitable access to arts education such as the Arts Education for All Act (H.R. 5463) and the Guarantee Access to Arts and Music Education (GAAME) Act. Under the leadership of the NAfME Advocacy and Public Policy team, they also worked closely with congressional staff to provide feedback on two new bills this Congress. The Reimagining Inclusive Arts Education (H.R. 7261) would create a grant program to provide professional development opportunities for arts educators to better support students with disabilities in their classrooms. Language was also included in the Equitable Arts Education Enhancement Act (H.R. 8943) to ensure that grant funds could be used by historically Black colleges and universities and other minority serving institutions to provide stipends for arts education students to participate in clinical experiences, develop mentoring programs for future arts educators, and pay for arts educators and their mentor teachers to participate in professional learning opportunities.
Our organizations are part of the National Coalition for Arts Standards, which will meet later this fall to develop a process and timeline for reviewing and revising the 2014 national arts standards. We are also members of the Arts Education Partnership, which has a Data Working Group developing recommendations to improve data collection on arts education access and participation. The last time this information was collected by the U.S. Department of Education was the 2009–10 school year through the Fast Response Survey System and published in a 2012 report by the National Center for Education Statistics.
Looking forward, EdTA, NAEA, NAMEA, NAfME, and NDEO will develop A Collective Vision for Equity in Arts Education, launch advocacy campaigns in support of federal legislation and programs to support arts education, assist state affiliates with coalition building on state policy issues, and explore opportunities for arts educators to advocate in a unified voice on Capitol Hill.
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The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) provides a number of forums for the sharing of information and opinion, including blogs and postings on our website, articles and columns in our magazines and journals, and postings to our Amplify member portal. Unless specifically noted, the views expressed in these media do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Association, its officers, or its employees.
Published Date
September 10, 2024
Category
- Advocacy
- Advocacy
- Federal Advocacy & Public Policy
Copyright
September 10, 2024. © National Association for Music Education (NAfME.org)