Author: Lacey, Richard A.

Publication Year: 1979

Media Type: Report

Summary:

Abstract:

You care....

You are a member of the local school board and care about school arts programs. After assessing the state of the arts in your school district, you have found: Enrollment is declining, budget cuts and layoffs seem inevitable, and administrators predict rough sledding for nonessential programs. Many parents and teachers believe that this means goodbye to the arts when the budget is determined. But is this gloomy prediction justified?

Arts educators throughout the school district are proud of their programs, yet as a group they have no clear central message. They seem intent on protecting their own disciplines and separate pieces of the budget. Can you help the professionals advocate the arts more effectively?

Arts advocates and professional arts educators in the school district, concerned that local budgets for all school programs are becoming tight, recently agreed to concentrate their energies upon a strategy for attracting state and federal funding for the school district and lobbying for arts legislation. They have asked your opinion of this strategy and have requested additional suggestions. What should you tell them?

A summary of school district priorities, derived from state department of education guidelines, includes basic skills, career education, and state and federal mandates for educating the handicapped . How can you ensure that administrators and fellow school board members fully understand that the arts should be incorporated within these priorities?

Members of local community art groups have perceived school board members as uninformed about the arts and unsympathetic to the plea for better school arts programs. How can you help them assess the board accurately and relate to it appropriately in ways that promote quality arts programs? (p. 5)

CONTENTS
You care...
The future isn't what it used to be.
Budget issues.
Turning an administrator into an ally.
Developing consensus.
Building a tradition.
Policies and objectives.
Long-range planning.
Evaluating programs.
The task ahead: a call for leadership.

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Arts Education