According to the No Child Left Behind Act Arts in Education section, "... data show[s] that students who have participated in sequential arts programs perform significantly better on both the verbal and mathematics sections of the SAT than their nonparticipating peers." (U.S. Department of Education) Nonetheless, Arts programs at the primary and secondary school levels are taking a massive hit. Several school districts have had to remove their arts programs (visual arts, music, and theatre) due to low funding.
Waning support for The Endowment for the Arts, a national program, is often to blame for such defunding; however, there are many factors at play in reality. Two governmental acts have contributed to schools forced and sometimes unforced removal of arts programs. Surprisingly, the No Child Left Behind Act does not push support for the arts in districts earning less than $15 million despite the data they have collected and the Common Core State Standards Initiative.
According to their website, the Common Core Initiative readies students for college and their career by setting high standards in Math and English. They mention the Initiative began to stay ahead of our international cohorts and has since been accepted by over 40 states. It appears the adoption of these initiatives, low funding, and the wavering support of the Endowment for the Arts all together is the reasoning for the removal of arts programs at the primary and secondary school level. While it is proven that participation in the arts amplifies the student's scores in several areas, school administrators have to keep their participation in these programs and concentrate on the student's scores in their state standardized test areas, which do not include art.
Granted, it is no secret that arts programs in primary and secondary institutions are poorly funded and often cut out entirely if a district has financial issues. "In 2018, nearly 30 percent of public school students in Oklahoma went to a school with no fine arts classes, state records show.” (Wendler, NPR) What some fail to realize is this is ultimately due to needing to keep areas that are tested. Art is not a tested area and is therefore pushed to the back burner.
While this is a national issue, it has significantly affected districts in low-income areas. Students in low-income areas face greater than double the likelihood of attending school without any art classes. The majority population in the low-income areas are minorities, specifically African Americans and Hispanics. This realization might explain why African American’s currently make up only 3 percent of graphic designers. AIGA and Adobe often host break out sessions during their conferences to discuss this; however, in light of the disparity of arts availability at the primary and secondary level in these under-served areas, it may be a much deeper issue.
After school arts programs and non-profit organizations have been formed to fill in the gaps of what the students are missing out on during the school day without art programs. While these organizations' work is highly commendable, needed, and appreciated, it also suffers from the same issue. They are generally underfunded and often in danger of losing their ability to help due to not covering their operational costs.
Alternatively, some districts, states, and charter schools have attempted to combat this revolving system by incorporating private and community funding. Initiatives such as California's Core Reforms Engaging Arts to Educate (CREATE) program and Brooklyn's Ascend Charter Schools are looking to change the narrative. They realize the power incorporating arts into their schools has on their students' overall learning and make strides to make art happen in their schools without traditional funding.
