LEGISLATIVE AGENDA

MAIN POINT:

All of Georgia's children deserve to learn the whole curriculum. Georgia has a state approved curriculum. It includes the arts and physical education. When local systems are given the option to provide only parts of the curriculum, the message is "Students don't need these subjects. We don't endorse our own curriculum."

OUR KIDS DESERVE TO LEARN THE WHOLE CURRICULUM

GAEA Legislative Agenda - "Arts Education IS Part of Education Reform"

Elementary School Recommendations

• Fine Arts (defined as art, dance, drama and music) should be separated from other curriculum areas in the funding formula.

• Georgia elementary (K-5) school students should receive a minimum of 120 weekly contact minutes of instruction at each grade level K-5 (and grade six in K-6 schools) as follows:

  • Students should receive 60 minutes of instruction in each of two of the fine arts areas (art, dance, drama or music) per week.

  • The choice among the fine arts areas should be at the discretion of the local school district, with the caveat that each discipline requires a sequential delivery of instruction to be effective.
    

• The funding formula for Fine Arts should provide for the above minimum instruction time.

Middle School Recommendations

Fine Arts (defined as art, dance, drama and music including band, chorus, general music or orchestra) should be separated from other curriculum areas in the funding formula.


Georgia middle school students should receive a minimum equivalent of one school year (135 contact hours) of instruction in Fine Arts during the course of a two-or three-year middle school program.


The funding formula should provide for the above minimum instruction time.


If the students are required to spend additional time on academics, a longer academic day should be required to accommodate arts instruction opportunities for all students.

High School Recommendations

• Establish graduation requirements so that all students graduate with one unit of study in a Fine Arts area.

Additional Recommendations

• As part of the Georgia Education Report Card process, collect data to determine the availability of Fine Arts instruction to K-12 students.
  

• Establish standards of accountability and an evaluation instrument to measure the quality of K-12 fine arts programs in the public schools of Georgia.
  

• Provide for adequate coordination of Fine Arts programs statewide:

• require that local districts provide coordination of arts instruction, and
  

• restore state level coordination for Fine Arts to the previous level (one full time art and one full time music consultant/coordinator, with one dance and one drama contract consultant).

Reasons to support such legislation