Advocacy News
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NDEO tracks important news and events involving dance education in the arts. NDEO encourages its members to stay on top of what is happening in the field and use the information to inform their own work.
To discuss any of the following, as well as other important advocacy issues in arts education, please join the discussion in the NEW Advocacy Forum.
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Harkin Reveals Timetable for Reauthorization of 'No Child Left Behind'
By Seth Stern, CQ Staff
Published 3/3/10
The chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee said Tuesday that he intends to mark up a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in May, with the goal of having the measure reach the floor in June.
Chairman Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said his panel would begin its effort to rewrite the 2002 law, popularly known as "No Child Left Behind" (PL 107-110), at a March 9 hearing.The first hearing tied to the reauthorization was held last week by Harkin's counterpart in the House -- George Miller, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.
Several key Republicans have suggested that the reauthorization timetable may prove overly ambitious in a legislative year truncated by midterm elections, though both sides say they remain committed to a bipartisan approach. Harkin said that he and Miller, a California Democrat, were working together and that it remained unclear whether the two chambers would go their separate ways or would introduce a single bicameral measure. "The House may have a different bill," Harkin said. "I don't know." The Obama administration has called on Congress to finish work on the reauthorization this year, and officials have encouraged states to adopt a common set of college and career-ready standards.
Ups and Downs of Original Law
The original law is often credited with improving accountability for educators, but it has been widely criticized for setting unrealistic goals and not giving schools the money to meet them. Critics also noted that it let each state set its own standards. So far, the Obama administration has laid out the most detailed vision for the reauthorization. Harkin said he has heard "a lot of nice words" from the administration about the reauthorization, but actual legislative language has "not jelled yet."
Last week, John Kline of Minnesota, the top Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee, released a set of broad principles that he said would guide the GOP caucus during the reauthorization, including "restoring local control" and "empowering parents."
Education Secretary Arne Duncan is scheduled to testify before the House panel Wednesday.
Source: CQ Today
Round-the-clock coverage of news from Capitol Hill.
©2010 Congressional Quarterly Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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NOTICE and CALL TO ACTION: Stimulus Funds Available to Arts Education
12/22/09
Funding Opportunity: The Race to the Top Fund (RTTT)
Funding Available: $4.3 billion in competitive grants to encourage and reward states that are creating the conditions for education innovation and reform
Who Can Apply: States and Local Education Agencies (LEAs)
Applications Due: First round - January 2010; second round - June 2010
Awards Announced: September 30, 2010
Funding Opportunity: Investing in Innovation Fund (i3)
Funding Available: $650 million in competitive grants that expand implementation and investment in innovative and evidence-based practices
Who Can Apply: LEAs, nonprofits working in collaboration with LEAs, or a consortium of schools
Applications Due: anticipated early 2010
Awards Announced: September 30, 2010
For more information on RTTT and i3, click here.
CALL TO ACTION!
What you can do NOW to ensure dance education is included in these important funding opportunities: Contact your State Superintendent and State Arts Consultant (State Education Agency Director of Arts Education) to ask what they are doing to include dance education in the arts in the RTTT and i3 funding. It is unlikely dance will get another chance like this in our lifetime. Call the NDEO office at 301-585-2880 if you need more information.
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The CCSSO Endorses Collecting Data in All Core Subjects
12/10/2009
On December 10, 2009, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) endorsed a call for data collection in all core academic subjects, including the arts. The call states:
"Chiefs should encourage data collections of school courses, teachers, and
numbers of students enrolled. Collections should include the core academic
subjects as defined by ESEA as well as physical education, health, and career
technology education." (ESEA defines core academic subjects as English,
reading or language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and
government, economics, arts, history and geography.)
To read the full press release, click here.
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The Diane Rehm Show Discusses Art and Economic Recovery during the New Deal
Broadcast 12/8/09
Under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal, the arts saw government funding like never before and directly contributed to America's recovery following the Great Depression. In this segment, Diane Rehm interviews author and Director Emeritus of the National Museum of American History and former Director of the National Park Service, Roger Kennedy on his new book "When Art Worked." Art during the New Deal, Kennedy says, is "not the work of depression, but the work of exhilaration and finding ourselves together." He argues that the Roosevelt administration recognized that investment in the arts at this crucial point not only bolstered thousands of unemployed artists, but, more importantly, helped "coax the soul of the nation back to life." He says: "The New Deal provided food, it provided work, and with the aid of art, it began to provide hope grounded in common purposes." The conversation at the end of the segment turns to what lessons we can take from the success of arts funding and support in economic recovery during the 1930s during our current economic recession. To listen to the full broadcast, click here.
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CAPITAL CULTURE: Obama Drops Cautious Arts Policy
By the Associated Press
Published 12/8/09
WASHINGTON (AP) -- In his first year, President Barack Obama has marshaled the largest infusion of cultural funding in decade -- despite a few stumbles.
..."It's still a relatively small amount of money-- a $12.5 million increase (for 2010) spread over 100,000 arts organizations," said Michael Kaiser, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. "But symbolically, ti was very important because so many state and local arts agencies are being cut by their state and local goverments, so to have the federal government... actually put more into arts, I think was very important."
... At a dinner during last weekend's Kennedy Center Honors, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said improving arts education will be a key element of his proposed changes in former President George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind law. He sai parents, teachers and students have all noticed a "narrowing of the curriculum."
"I'm convinced when students are engaged in the arts, graduation rates go up, dropout rates go down," Duncan said...
To read the full article, click here.
Courtesy of the New York Times.
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President and Mrs. Obama Host the Kennedy Center Honors
12/6/2009
At a reception for this year's Kennedy Center honorees, Dave Brubeck, Mel Brooks, Grace Bumbry, Robert De Niro, and Bruce Springsteen, President Obama touched on the powerful role plays in American life and committed to strengthening support of arts and arts education in the U.S. He said:
So let's never forget that art strengthens America. And that's why we're making sure that
America strengthens its arts. It's why we're reenergizing the National Endowment of the
Arts. That's why we're helping to sustain jobs in arts communities acorss the country. It's why
we're supporting arts education in our schools..."
To read the President's full remarks, click here.
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NEA Cultural Workforce Forum Available to View Online
11/20/2009
On November 20, 2009, the National Endowment for the Arts held a cultural workforce forum to discuss the issues facing artists and cultural workers in America and their role in the economy. The forum brought together representatives from academic institutions, arts foundations, service organizations and the government to present research and the difficulty of gathering helpful research on artists in the American economy. For more information and to watch a full webcast of the forum, click here.
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First Lady Michelle Obama Highlights the Importance of Arts Education at the Coming Up Taller Awards
11/4/2009
Mrs. Obama spoke at the White House to honor the 2009 President's Committee on Arts and Humanities Comping Up Taller Award recipients and acknowledged the important work arts educators have done in communities across the nation. She drew a comparison between an education in the arts and the improvement of the whole child, saying:
And these young people don't just become accomplished singers and painters and authors.
They also become better students, they become better leaders, and they become better citizens,
enriching just themselves but their communities, teaching younger children the skills that they've
learned, beautifying neighborhoods with murals and lifting their communities with their
performances.... Ultimately, each of your programs is using achievement in the arts
as a bridge to achievement in life.
Mrs. Obama also stressed the importance of arts education for children to encourage and pave the way for a new generation of artists. "We want to show them that they can have a future in the arts community, whether they do it as a hobby or as a profession or simply as an appreciative observer." To read Mrs. Obama's full comments, click here.
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Notice: Race to the Top Assessment Competition Public Hearings Announced
Over the next month, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) will be hosting a series of three public hearings across the country to collect public input on the $350 million of the Race to the Top (RTTT) fund that U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has set aside for assessment(s) linked to common standards across a consortium of states. Through the course of these hearings, ED will arrange panels of experts to testify and engage in Q&A, as well as allow for members of the public to provide brief comments. The schedule for the hearings is as follows:
November 12-13; Boston, MA
November 17-18; Atlanta, GA
December 1-2; Denver, CO
For those who are not able to attend these hearings in person, ED will be accepting written input submissions until 5:00 PM, EST, December 2, 2009. CCSSO will have representation at all three hearings and will also be filing written input. Secretary Duncan intends on announcing the details of this competition by March 2010; to learn more about these hearings and the RTTT Assessment competition, click here.
Courtesy of the Council of Chief State School Officers.
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SD Board Approves New High School Graduation Rules
WRAL.com (11/03/09)
The South Dakota Board of Education recently approved new graduation requirements eliminating the basic curriculum for students beginning in the 2010-2011 school year. While students could opt out of the advanced curriculum for a basic curriculum with their parents' permission, State Education Secretary Tom Oster says students will face more rigorous courses. Students will still have the option to substitute other math and science courses for the advanced courses in those subjects. Students will have to take three units of math, including Algebra I, Algebra II, and geometry; they will be given the opportunity to opt out of either Algebra I or geometry, but not both, and substitute a business math course. In science, students will be required to take three lab science courses, including biology, physical science, chemistry, or physics; they can opt out of chemistry or physics, but not both, and substitute an additional lab science. Students also must take four units of language arts, three units of social studies, half a unit of physical education, and a year of fine arts. Students must complete at least 22 units to graduate high school, and Oster says more students are taking on more rigorous math and science courses to qualify for state scholarships.
Courtesy of the Council of Chief State School Officers.
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President Obama Speaks on the Importance of Strengthening America's Education System
White House (11/04/09)
On Nov. 4, President Barack Obama visited James C. Wright Middle School in Madison, Wis., and discussed the need to improve education, particularly in math and science, to ensure the United States can compete globally. States are expected to compete for the Race to the Top award, which is about $4 billion in funding to help states implement education improvement strategies that will hold schools more accountable and bolster education quality. However, states also need to ensure that student performance data can be used in the evaluation process for teachers. States needed to make initial changes before they could apply for the Race to the Top grants, and the president noted that these states will need to adopt an all-hands-on-deck approach to education reform. He said, "The first measure is whether a state is committed to setting higher standards and better assessments that prepare our children to succeed in the 21st century. And I'm pleased to report that 48 states are now working to develop internationally competitive standards . . . I want to commend the leadership of the governors and school chiefs who've joined together to get this done. And because of these efforts, there will be a set of common standards that any state can adopt, beginning early next year. And I urge all our states to do so and to upgrade what's taught in the classroom accordingly to meet these international standards. I also challenge states to align their assessments with high standards -- because we should -- we should not just raise the bar, we should prepare our kids to meet it."
Courtesy of the Council of Chief State School Officers.
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Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Urges Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
On September 24, 2009, Secretary Duncan delivered a speech entitled "Why We Can't Wait" at the Department's monthly Education Stakeholders Forum in Washington, DC. To read the Department of Education's press release on the Secretary's remarks, click here.To read the full text of Secretary Duncan's remarks, click here.
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Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Speaks Out in Support of Arts Education
On August 18, 2009, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan spoke with a coalition of Arts Education organizations, including NDEO, in a conference call organized by the SupportMusic Coalition. The call followed Secretary Duncan's earlier letter in support of arts education. To download the letter, click here. To download the SupportMusic Press Release on the conference call, click here. To listen to a recording of the conference call, click here.
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