Alabama Art Education Association

In an interview last year on WNYC, Richard Kessler, executive director of the Center for Arts Education, discussed the impact of Mayor Bloomberg's educational priorities on the arts programs in the New York City schools. This was in connection with a study released by the CAE concerning graduation rates of students in schools that had strong arts programs.

Called "Staying in School," the report, released on October 19, 2009 revealed that:

§   High schools in the top third of graduation rates had almost 40 percent more certified arts teachers per student than schools in the bottom third-or, on average, one additional arts teacher per school.

§   High schools in the top third of graduation rates had almost 40 percent more physical spaces dedicated to arts learning per student than schools in the bottom third.

§   High schools in the top third of graduation rates had 35 percent more graduates completing three or more arts courses than schools in the bottom third.

However, the results, in large part, of Mayor Bloomberg's "assessment" campaign in which testing in reading and math have been emphasized over any other objectives in classroom teaching, has yielded the following according to findings issued by CAE, an Annual Arts in Schools Report for 2007-08:

Only 7% of elementary schools have arts instruction in the four arts disciplines: Music, Art, Theatre, Dance; 67% of elementary schools and 47% of middle schools offer only one or two arts disciplines. In the high schools although 79% offered instruction in two arts disciplines only 27% offered all four. With the continual cuts in the school budget, this trend could only have been exacerbated since that report was issued.

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