BILL NUMBER: SCR 14	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Fuller

                        JANUARY 27, 2015

   Relative to arts education.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCR 14, as introduced, Fuller. Arts Education Month.
   This measure would proclaim March 2015 to be Arts Education Month
and would encourage all elected officials to participate with their
educational communities in celebrating the arts.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   WHEREAS, Arts education, which includes dance, music, theatre, and
the visual arts, is an essential and integral part of basic
education for all pupils in prekindergarten, kindergarten, and grades
1 to 12, inclusive; and
   WHEREAS, The arts are crucial to achieving a state educational
policy that is devoted to the teaching of basic academic skills and
lifelong learning capacities with the goal of truly preparing all
children for success after high school regardless of gender, age,
economic status, physical ability, or learning ability; and
   WHEREAS, A systematic, substantive, and sequential visual and
performing arts curriculum addresses and develops ways of thinking,
questioning, expression, and learning that complement learning in
other core subjects, but that is unique in what it has to offer; and
   WHEREAS, Pupils benefit from arts learning in the areas of
cultural understanding, readiness for learning and creative thinking,
cognitive outcomes, emotional intelligence and expression, social
interaction and collaboration, and preparation for the workplace and
lifelong learning; and
   WHEREAS, Arts education in California is mandated for pupils in
grades 1 to 12, inclusive, by Sections 51210 and 51220 of the
Education Code, which provide, in part, "  t]he adopted course of
study ... shall include instruction ... in ... v]isual and performing
arts, including instruction in the subjects of dance, music,
theatre, and visual arts, aimed at the development of aesthetic
appreciation and the skills of creative expression"; and
   WHEREAS, The arts are recognized as part of a quality education,
and the University of California and the California State University
have instituted a policy that includes visual and performing arts as
a college preparatory subject for all high school pupils wishing to
enter California's institutions of higher education; and
   WHEREAS, In 2006 the Legislature passed and former Governor
Schwarzenegger signed into law a landmark investment in music and
arts education programs, including a block grant of $105,000,000 to
support standards-aligned instruction in kindergarten and grades 1 to
12, inclusive; and
   WHEREAS, In 2006 the Legislature also passed and former Governor
Schwarzenegger signed into law an additional $500,000,000 to be
distributed on a one-time basis for the purchase of visual and
performing arts and physical education professional development
supplies and equipment; and
   WHEREAS, In 2007, this ongoing investment in arts education plus a
cost of living increase was passed by the Legislature and signed
into law by former Governor Schwarzenegger; and
   WHEREAS, It is the intent that this funding help implement a
comprehensive vision for arts education at the local level, to ensure
that every pupil in California benefits from this investment; and
   WHEREAS, This funding is the first step in investing in quality
visual and performing arts programs for all California pupils; and
   WHEREAS, Many national and state professional arts education
associations hold celebrations in the month of March, giving
California schools a unique opportunity to focus on the value of the
arts for all pupils, to foster cross-cultural understanding, to give
recognition to the state's outstanding young artists, and to enhance
public support for this essential part of the curriculum; now,
therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature of the State of California
proclaims the month of March 2015 as Arts Education Month and
encourages all elected officials to participate with their
educational communities in celebrating the arts with meaningful
activities and programs for pupils, teachers, and the public that
demonstrate learning and understanding in the visual and performing
arts, and urges all residents to become interested in and give full
support to quality school arts programs for children and youth; and
be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.