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2015

Mission Possible: Napa County Alliance for Arts Education
April 13, 2015

The Challenge: To launch a countywide advocacy effort with multiple partners and stakeholders who have diverse goals and little to no bandwidth to ‘start something new’

The Strategy: Define your terms: Know your mission; educate your stakeholders about what advocacy is… and isn’t.

The Story: In December 2013 Arts Council Napa Valley, along with the Napa County Office of Education and the California Alliance for Arts Education, convened more than 50 Napa County educators, arts organizations, nonprofits, and community leaders at an early morning breakfast to garner support for arts education in Napa County schools, launching the Napa County Alliance for Arts Education (NCAAE).  The event was a success -- there was enthusiasm among the participants to increase access to arts education in the county, and there was also concern about the cost, benefits and time involved with this undertaking. Partners, wondered ‘What’s in this for my program?’ and ‘Will this group raise funds for my organization, program?

“Understandably, the various stakeholders in our group had varying concerns...

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Your District Superintendent: A Key Ally for Arts Education
March 13, 2015

"Your district superintendent is the person who knows and understands what's happening on a day to day basis in each school in the district. He or she is responsible for implementing programs.[…] [and] oftentimes their voice is the one the SB hears the loudest or that carries the most weight.”

In this month’s blog from our Local Advocacy Network, advocates from the San Luis Obispo Alliance for Arts Education explain how and why they worked with the district superintendent in Paso Robles in this brief video blog. 

 

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Why a District Arts Plan Still Matters
February 10, 2015

The Challenge: How to build a district wide arts program starting now.

The Strategy: A district arts plan builds broad support and maps a path for incremental, but sustained growth.

The Story: California’s state education code requires that students receive K-12 instruction in visual arts, music, theater and dance. Yet, during years of tough financial times, many schools were forced to cut their arts programs. During the lean years, advocates in Orange County (OC) undertook a systematic effort to pass district arts plans that means as new funding comes in, both a commitment and a plan are in already place.

According to Pat Wayne, who shepherded many plans into being in her work for Arts Orange County and the California Alliance for Arts Education, “The strength of this approach for advocacy lies in the fact that the district has a blueprint to follow and advocacy efforts can be very specific rather...

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Launch of Online Guide Put Arts Integration within Reach of Title 1 Schools
February 4, 2015

The California Alliance for Arts Education has launched a new online resource to support arts integration programs at low-income schools. The website guides Title I school leaders through a rigorous process to plan and evaluate arts strategies that can help achieve the goals of the Title I program.

“Arts programs can help schools achieve the aims of Title I by facilitating student engagement and learning, strengthening parent involvement, and improving school climate and school wide behavior,” according to the website live at http://www.title1arts.org.

Yet, up until recently, there was no procedure to do this and zero California Title I schools – out of approximately 6,000 Title I schools – that were officially using Title I funds to support arts education strategies. Despite a substantial body of research demonstrating that arts education increases student achievement, there has been a lack of clarity whether or not arts strategies...

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Art in District LCAPs: Tools and Best Practices
February 4, 2015

Each June, every school district in California is required to submit a three year Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) as part of the state's new school funding formula. New resources from the California Alliance, Arts for LA and Arts for All offer a look at trends in the ways that districts are investing in arts education and a closer look...
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How SF Arts Advocates Leveraged Support for Ballot Measure
January 8, 2015

How SF Arts Advocates Leveraged Support for Ballot Measure

Challenge: Persuade city officials to introduce and support a ballot initiative to fund arts education, libraries and sports.  

Strategy: The San Francisco Alliance for Arts Education authored a white paper that decision-makers clear, sound arguments for amending a funding policy and putting it on the November 2014 ballot.

Story:

San Francisco’s PEEF (Public Education Enrichment Fund), which for years had protected funding for physical education, libraries and arts education in San Francisco public schools seemed to be on the back burner, despite the fact that it was set to sunset at the end of the year. With careful planning, research and plenty of lead time, the San Francisco Alliance for Arts Education (SFAAE) succeeded in getting a ballot measure passed reauthorizing PEEF and securing funding for programs that historically have been vulnerable to budget reduction or elimination in difficult economic times.

1. Gather Input...

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CREATE California Statewide Convening
January 6, 2015

CREATE CA January 30 & 31

We’re kicking off 2015 with a statewide convening of CREATE California to ignite collective impact and expand arts and creativity in California schools. Join us in Oakland on January 30 & 31, 2015 for workshop sessions, policy briefings and conversations to open up new opportunities for collaboration. We will be joined by Governor Jerry Brown, Apple University’s Randy Nelson, as well as students from the Oakland School for the Arts and the San Francisco Student Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble.

What is CREATE CA?

CREATE CA (Core Reforms Engaging Arts to Educate) is a unique statewide coalition of agencies, organizations and individuals partnering on an education reform movement that views arts education as an essential part of the solution to the problems facing California schools. Using a model of “collective impact,” CREATE CA is led by five leadership organizations and five individual elected members from the field. It is a model that has garnered interest from advocates in other states.

How is CREATE CA different than...

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2014

Webinar: Local Arts Education Advocacy 2015
December 2, 2014

In January, local school boards will begin drafting plans and making budget allocations for the coming years. This free one-hour webinar on Tuesday, December 9th at 12:00pm PT, will outline effective ways to be an agent for positive change in your school district. Find out what's in your district's Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP), why it matters and how arts education can help students and schools succeed. Panelists will share their experience with how to:

·      Seize opportunities to impact district planning

·      Understand what’s in a district LCAP

·      Work with a district superintendent

·      Influence a local school board

Panelists include:

·      Sarah Brothers, the Arts Education Manager for the Arts Council Santa Cruz County

·      Jenna Hartzell, Executive Director for Arts Obispo

·      Pat Wayne, Deputy Director, Arts Orange County

Register today: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/...

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LCAP Success Story in Santa Cruz
November 25, 2014

The Challenge: How to increase access to arts education in a large district with limited opportunities for arts.

The Strategy: Bring solutions to your local school board.

The Story: The Santa Cruz County Alliance for Arts Education, launched in 2012, has an ambitious goal - to advocate for arts education for all students in every school community in Santa Cruz County. They began their work by focusing on the county’s largest district, which had very limited arts education offerings.  The Santa Cruz Alliance knew that their best chance to make an impact within the district was to advocate for the inclusion of arts in that district’s new Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAP).


“We did so by building relationships with school board members, coordinating presenting materials at school board meetings and town hall planning sessions, defining a clear and appropriate ask, and following up and celebrating the progress made,” says Sarah Brothers, the Arts Education Manager for the Arts Council Santa Cruz County and leader for the Santa Cruz County Alliance for Arts...
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Why Congratulate New Candidates?
November 10, 2014
 
With the passage of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), local school boards have been given authority to set the priorities and funding allocations for their districts, which makes building relationships with your local school board members more important that ever. 
 
Now that the elections are over, a great way to start a relationship with the winning candidate is to write her or him a congratulations letter. It doesn’t matter who you voted for, now is the time to reach out and start building bridges to ensure supporting arts education is a part of their plans. A congratulations letter is a good way to let your voice be heard while starting off on a positive note.
 

First look up which candidates won here. You should be able to find your candidate’s contact information on your local County Office of Election website. 
 
There is a draft of a letter at the end of this blog post, feel free to personalize it, keeping the following things in mind: 
 
•...
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