President George W. Bush’s education initiative is gaining at least preliminary support on both sides of the aisle in Congress—the major point of dispute being school vouchers, with Republicans generally favoring and Democrats opposed to that aspect of the proposal.
Still, it doesn’t appear that Republicans will press the voucher issue, leading to the expectation that progressive legislation designed to help public education will come to pass during this congressional session.
That’s welcome news, which would be embraced by the visual effects industry even more if arts education were to become part of the package. In informal discussions with executives at several leading effects houses, I’ve found one of their prime hopes is that the importance of the arts will be reflected in whatever educational reform ultimately emerges.
In prior installments of this column, we’ve talked up the cause of arts education on several levels. When public schools lacked overall funding in the late 1970s and through the ’80s and much of the ’90s, the first cutbacks were in the arts curriculum—visual arts, music, theater, painting and drawing. We’ve begun to see the devastating impact of that belt-tightening over the past two-plus decades—as the computer animation, visual effects and high-tech sectors in the U.S. have been hard-pressed to find qualified homegrown applicants for attractive jobs in the digital market. As chronicled in SHOOT, this has led to raising annual Immigration & Naturalization Service H-1B visa allocations so that American firms can access foreign workers who are better educated and experienced in the arts and sciences.
But the importance of the arts goes far beyond our industry. Assorted studies have found that arts education helps students to perform better academically in subjects such as English, math, history and science. One explanation is that when they discover that the arts are relevant to their lives, kids then see the relevance of education in other areas. They become engaged by and in the educational process.
Research has also found that the arts help to build self esteem in youngsters, laying the foundation for well-adjusted adulthood. So we’re talking about an educational curriculum that not only can help to create a deeper workforce and make our economy stronger, but also can better society.
We need to make the new administration in D.C., as well as federal legislators, aware of the importance of arts education. And that lobbying also must extend to cities, counties and states—particularly because much of the Bush plan leaves crucial decision-making in the hands of local officials.
An encouraging sign has surfaced in California. In response to a law signed by Gov. Gray Davis (D-CA) in September, the State Board of Education is expected to soon adopt California’s first classroom standards for the arts. Such standards have long been established for math, science and English.
While they do not require that students be tested in the arts, the new standards reflect a long-overdue acknowledgement. The arts standards provide guidelines—that school districts can choose to enforce—recognizing the arts as part of a well-rounded education. The standards, which cover different grade levels, are in dance, music, theater and visual arts. Most importantly, the standards call for arts instruction to be made available to all students in California’s public school system.
