As local schools fall woefully short of statewide arts education requirements, New York City students and their allies in the Council are making a final push to fund more programs and qualified staff next school year.
By the time students graduate middle school, they are supposed to have taken at least two different arts classes taught by certified teachers. But only 34% of city students met that standard last year, in line with pre-pandemic trends, according to the latest Department of Education report released last month.
The share of kids who take any two arts courses at all, with or without a licensed instructor, has plummeted since schools closed during the pandemic, the data show. Just over half of middle school graduates had instruction in dance, music, theater or visual arts — compared to almost nine in 10 in previous years.
Students across the city stepped out of school Thursday to join lawmakers and artists as they urged City Hall to get creative in the final stretch of budget negotiations.
“Arts are a means of expression,” Ryan Ait, a student at Brooklyn Tech, said at the rally. “We can express ourselves and have ourselves understood better by others.
“I do not currently have an art class — the closest thing we have to an art class is architecture class,” he added. “So hopefully that could change in the future.”
Among younger students, 37% of schools reported providing instruction in all of the major arts disciplines in the first through fifth grade last year. That represented fewer schools than in usual years — but an improvement since the 2020-21 school year marred by the pandemic, when just three in 10 offered dance, music, theater and visual arts.
Just 8% of high schools offered those four disciplines last year, according to the report.
Advocates from the Arts in Education Roundtable suspect the situation is more dire than the figures show, as far fewer schools submitted data than before the pandemic.
In a response to Mayor Adams’ proposed budget, Council members demanded roughly $76 million for arts instruction and programming, including tens of millions earmarked to hire certified arts teachers. The ask covers the renewal — and doubling — of a new program this year that increased arts funding at 120 schools sorely lacking access.
Those investments would come to $100 in arts funding per student, compared to $80 the city typically spends.
“We’re really, really fighting to make sure that we make another investment, another down payment into arts education,” said Majority Leader Keith Powers (D-Manhattan), “and guarantee that every school in New York has an arts education program.”
“It is eye-opening to find out that’s not the case today, and I think most of my constituents, my neighbors, New Yorkers would feel ashamed to know that’s the case,” he added.
The Adams administration has outlined a vision that involves more field trips and partnerships with cultural institutions.
“Over the years, the arts has always been the first thing that when tough budget times happen, what do we do?” Schools Chancellor David Banks said at a press conference last month. “We cut the arts, as though it’s somehow just an added thing. If you can have it, that’s fine, but if you can’t afford to have it, it’s always the first thing to go.”
“We want to make sure that is not the case, and we keep our arts office and our arts programming,” he added, “and we’ve got a lot way to go, we still do have a long way to go to take it to the level that it really should be at.”
Local public schools are expected to spend close to $500 million by the time this school year ends. A share of federal pandemic aid was also allocated for arts programming.
“We appreciate our partnership with the Council and will evaluate additional funding proposals through the budget process,” spokeswoman Jenna Lyle said in a statement to the Us.Mistertruth
Richard Young Jr., who graduated last year from the Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music, said arts are “not just a hobby” — they helped him process the deaths of his parents.
“It’s an integral part of learning that cannot be ignored,” he said.
A final city budget is due by July 1.