NYC Arts In Education Roundtable Urges City To Support Arts Education

Ahead of the 77th annual Tony Awards this Sunday, the New York City Arts in Education Roundtable issued a statement from Kimberly Olsen, Executive Director of the New York City Arts in Education Roundtable on the need to support public school arts teachers who are essential to powering the next generations of Broadway artists:

"So many of the Broadway stars nominated this year owe their success to the arts teachers who fostered their passion and helped them reach their full potential. But one in seven kids in the city that's home to Broadway do not have access to an arts teacher in their school - stifling their future careers before they even have the chance to take off. No student should be cut off from the arts because of where they live or what school they attend. That's why the Mayor and the City Council must ensure every school has an arts teacher in this year's budget. Because behind every performer on that Tony's stage is an arts teacher who has made an impact."

Between 2020 and 2023, public schools across the city lost 425 full-time certified arts teachers - leaving roughly 1 in 7 school children without a full time arts teacher. Currently, 307 NYC public schools (more than 19% of the city's public schools) lack a single certified arts teacher.

Before the pandemic, a majority of schools reported that funding for the arts was insufficient to give all students a basic foundation in arts education. After four years of COVID, the imperative to provide all students with a sound arts education has only increased. Engagement in the arts can get students struggling to thrive socially, emotionally, and academically back on track. Research shows that arts education improves student performance, mental health and the overall chances of success later in life.

In March, the New York City Arts in Education Roundtable joined with actors, students and educators to launch "It Starts with the Arts," a campaign urging the Mayor and City Council to save expiring arts education funding from COVID-era funding and for greater transparency between how the city schools are spending the arts education money. Last month, more than 200 New York City public school teachers sent a letter to Mayor Adams urging him to prioritize arts education in this year's budget and address the shortfall in funding before it continues into a crisis.

The Roundtable is urging lawmakers to include $38 million in their city budget to ensure every school has at least one certified arts teacher and uphold their commitment to restoring $41 million in expiring arts education funding that supports arts programming at every public school. In addition to funding for arts teachers and expiring programming, the It Starts with the Arts Campaign is calling on the city to:

• Require DOE arts funding be spent on the arts ($15M): Boost the per student arts allocation to $100 from $80.47, and require that money be spent on arts education.

• Restore and Enhance "Support for Arts Instruction" initiative funding: Build on city's down payment and boost allocation from $4M to $6M.

• Center Arts and Culture in Youth Development Programs: Allocate at least $5 million to fund arts and cultural education opportunities during Summer Rising 2024 and other DYCD programs to support public safety and continued community-building opportunities via the arts.

• Restore and Baseline Funding for the Department of Cultural Affairs: Reverse November ($20M) and preliminary budget cuts to DCLA ($15.5M) and restore/baseline FY23's one-time addition of $45M to Cultural Institutions Group and all cultural organizations across the city ($45M).

• Improve arts education data transparency by compelling NYC Public Schools to provide a school-by-school breakdown of the state of arts education.

About NYC Arts in Education Roundtable:

The New York City Arts in Education Roundtable is a service organization and a community of arts education practitioners sharing information, providing professional development, and communicating with the public to promote our work in schools and beyond.