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Measure Envisions More Arts in Schools

December 12, 2007
Brandon Griggs,
Salt Lake Tribune

Responding to pleas for more arts education, three Utah lawmakers will seek funding next year to hire 100 specialists to teach music, dance, theater and visual-art classes in one-fifth of the state's public elementary schools. Under the proposed three-year program, which would cost $8.9 million its first year, school districts could choose which of their elementary schools would get arts teachers beginning in the fall of 2008. The program would emphasize learning in the arts as a means of improving a child's development in all subjects.

"It's widely recognized that exposure to or training in the arts affects a student's overall academic performance," said state Sen. Curtis Bramble, R-Provo, who along with Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, and state Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, will introduce a bill in next month's legislative session to fund the program. "Schools that have an emphasis on the arts, their students do better."

Arts education has been part of the state's core curriculum for decades. But only a few elementary schools employ trained art specialists; in most cases, art classes are taught by general instructors who squeeze the classes in with the rest of their classroom duties, said Brenda Hales, associate state schools superintendent.

School districts would need to apply for inclusion in the program, and each chosen school would receive, on average, one full-time arts teacher for the 2008-2009 academic year. The school would decide whether the teacher would focus on music, dance, theater or visual art. If fully funded, the program would serve approximately 100 of Utah's 507 elementary schools in its first year. Independent assessors would document student performance to measure the program's impact. If the program succeeded, proponents would hope to expand it to every elementary school in the state.

The program also would seek to promote arts-education research and instruction at Utah colleges and universities.

The proposed program is a joint initiative by the Utah Arts Council, the State Office of Education and Arts Works for Kids, a nonprofit organization dedicated to arts education in Utah elementary schools. Founded by philanthropist Beverley Sorenson, Arts Works for Kids funded two pilot programs between 1995 and 2005 that brought art teachers into 12 Utah elementary schools.

Local and national studies have shown students who participate in comprehensive art programs are less likely to skip class, more likely to excel in academics and more likely to graduate from high school, said Jim Sorenson, chairman of the board of Art Works for Kids.

The Salt Lake City School District conducted one such study at Jackson Elementary School, which for 14 years has had a schoolwide music program in which every student learns to play the violin. District officials compared Jackson to another elementary school with similar demographics but no history of arts classes and found that Jackson students scored substantially higher on both math and language-arts tests.

"When children start developing, they sing, they dance, they draw," said Elaine Harding, executive director of Art Works for Kids. "Children need to create to be whole and to access their potential. It's the best way for them to learn."

Lack of arts education in schools is the biggest complaint raised by Utahns so far on the Utah Arts Council's "Listening Tour," which since 2005 has canvassed residents from Logan to St. George on arts-related issues, said Utah Arts Council Director Margaret Hunt. Revenue projections indicate lawmakers will have a budget surplus of at least $172 million to spend on Utah public schools in the next fiscal year.

What's Proposed: Three Utah lawmakers are co-sponsoring a bill to boost arts education in Utah's public elementary schools. The bill would:

» Hire 100 teachers statewide to serve approximately 35,000 students, or about 20 percent of Utah's elementary-school enrollment.

» Hire 20 specialists to implement and evaluate the new arts-education program.

» Buy arts supplies and equipment.

» Cost $24.7 million over three years ($8.9 million for the first year; $7.9 million for each subsequent year).

source: The Utah Arts Council

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