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2016

SB 916 Passes Senate Education Committee!
May 3, 2016

UPDATE 8/18/16: The bill passed the Assembly floor (78-0-2).

UPDATE: 8/11/16: Passed by the Assembly Appropriations Committee and referred to the Assembly floor.

UPDATE 6/22/16: The Assembly Education Committee voted unanimously to approve SB 916. The bill now moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

UPDATE 6/1/16: SB 916 passed the Senate on May 31, 2016.

SB 916 (Allen) – the Theatre and Dance Act (TADA!) – has passed its first hurdle in the legislative process. On April 20, 2016, by a vote of 9 to 0, the Senate Education Committee voted to send...

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Student Voices Video Finalists Announced!
April 13, 2016
What if you could create change by making a video? That was the question proposed to school students (grades 7-12) across California in the recent 3rd annual STUDENT VOICES CAMPAIGN, presented by the California Alliance for Arts Education. The campaign empowered students to make videos that communicate what matters to them and share them with their local school board. Hundreds of students representing 7 California counties participated by submitting their vision ranging from the need for arts education, updated computers, and bathrooms for trans and non-binary gendered students.
 
"This is a video that shows why we need gender-neutral restrooms at our schools for trans and non-binary students in our district. There are many trans and non-binary students in our district who do not feel comfortable in gendered restrooms. This means many of these students don’t go to the restroom during school even when they need to." Student, Lincoln High School, San Jose Unified School District



"Your case is compelling and I am impressed that you took the time to create a persuasive and professional video to...
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The Power of a Wish List
March 16, 2016

The Challenge: How to hold your district accountable for what's in the LCAP


The Strategy: Keep a wish list, and keep talking about it!


The Story: As a longtime PTA parent and local organizer for the California Alliance's Local Advocacy Network, Courtney Fielder was educated about California's new funding law and took an active role in her school district's Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) meetings. But she had something else too: a wish list.

 

Even before Proposition 30 passed, bringing much needed funding back into California schools, and before the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) passed, guaranteeing parents, students and educators a place in new locally determined priorities and budgets, Courtney had been thinking about how Capistrano Unified School District might grow its arts program.

"It's a big district. We have 34 elementary schools, not to mention our middle and high schools," says Courtney. "We needed investments that would lead to systematic, sustainable...

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Student Voices Summit & Screening
March 14, 2016

On Saturday, April 30, the California Alliance for Arts Education will host the Student Voices Summit & Screening at the San Francisco Art Institute. The Summit will bring together students from all over California for an afternoon of student-led advocacy workshops, master classes with celebrated artists Christopher Coppola, Isa Borgeson, and Delroy Lindo, and the chance to see student videos on the big screen.

Together with our event hosts, the California Arts Council, Oakland School for the Arts and the Walter & Elise Haas Fund, we are pleased to offer this free event, open to all California public school students in grades 7-12, teachers, and parents. Space is limited and registration is required.

REGISTER and view the event page at StudentVoicesSummit2016.eventbrite.com

If you, your school or...

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Free Webinar: How Teachers Can Support SB 916
March 11, 2016

Update 3/28/16: View an archived recording of the webinar.

Join us on Thursday, March 24, 2016 at 5:30 PT for a webinar that will offer concrete strategies for supporting Senate Bill 916, including how to communicate with your union and your legislators, and how to spread the campaign to other teachers. Panelists will include leaders from the California Dance Education Association (CDEA) and the California Educational Theatre...

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Building and Engaging a Strong Leadership Team in Amador County
February 19, 2016
The Challenge: How to build a countywide effort to increase arts education  

The Strategy: Build a strong leadership team composed of cross sector partners (and keep them engaged)

The Story: The small county of Amador sits among the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. When the Amador Alliance for Arts Education launched, one of their challenges was bridging the county's geography to build a coordinated effort across county schools.
 
"We needed a strong leadership team that gathered leaders from several key stakeholder groups to create a unified effort that bridged the county's hilly geography," says Terra Forgette, Executive Director of AmadorArts and the lead for the Amador Alliance.

Under guided recommendations from the California Alliance for Arts Education, the Amador Alliance hosted a community breakfast in 2012...
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Theatre and Dance Act Introduced
February 11, 2016

UPDATE 6/22/16: The Assembly Education Committee voted unanimously to approve SB 916. The bill now moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

UPDATE 6/1/16: SB 916 passed the Senate on May 31, 2016.

UPDATE 4/13/16: The general assembly of the California Teachers Association voted on Sunday, April 10 to support legislation by Senator Ben Allen (D-Los Angeles) that would create teaching credentials in the subjects of Dance and Theatre. Due to the dedicated advocacy of dance and theatre teachers, as well as colleagues from other disciplines, one of the historic barriers to establishing the credentials has been removed. Our advocacy campaign continues after the bill is heard in the Senate Education Committee on April 20. 

On January 27, 2016, Senator Ben Allen held a press conference to...

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Arts Education Strategies in California LCAPs
February 11, 2016

Join us for the release of Arts Education Strategies in California LCAPs.

The California Alliance for Arts Education, Arts for LA and Arts for All have partnered to provide new resources that demonstrate the ways that the arts can contribute to the State’s new priorities and in particular to the success of low-income students and English Language Learners. Arts Education Strategies in LCAPs gathers concrete examples of how districts are increasing access to arts education and implementing arts strategies to improve student outcomes in their Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAP) and shows an exciting range of arts strategies and metrics.

In the coming weeks and months, districts will be updating their Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAP) to determine priorities and funding for the coming years. The California Alliance and Arts for LA are working...

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2015

From Assessment to Arts Plan in Napa County
December 11, 2015

At this year’s Local Advocacy Retreat, local organizer Robin Hampton presented a breakout session featuring a case study of a countywide assessment of arts offerings, done by the Napa County Alliance for Arts Education - a local coalition made up of the Arts Council Napa Valley, the Napa County Office of Education, and over 50 Napa County educators, arts organizations, nonprofits, and community leaders.

The group’s extensive 360 Degree Assessment of arts education in Napa County aimed to identify the current landscape in relation to arts education assets the county already had, and also what it needed. 

Results from the assessment survey and further research conducted by task teams revealed certain strengths, such as numerous sustainable and award-winning arts programs at the high school level, as well as a common desire to collaborate in support of arts education. Gaps uncovered included a disconnect of communication between the sectors and a lack of awareness of...

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The Making of the Animated Video: Interview with Nevada Lane
December 11, 2015
The first installment of our Student Voices Visionary features Nevada Lane, whose drawing are featured in the animated Student Voices Intro video. We spoke to her by phone and asked about her vision for schools, what creativity means to her, and what it was like to draw with a camera recording her every move! 
 
What is creativity? Can you give an example of creativity in someone you know?  (It could be a friend, a relative, a public figure, or you)
 
Nevada: I’m going to take a different slant on it. We often think of creativity in the arts, and I think that’s beautiful and wonderful.  But what’s under recognized is the creativity people have when working with other people and how they’re able to create something out of bringing people together around collaborating and achieving a common outcome.  
 
For a practical example – young activists who can create networks of people and bring people together to have a conversation about and tackle issues like climate change, or gun control laws.  It’s a...
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