Read all the research, news, and policy in our arts education RECAP for November 2021.
Research
CDC Recommends Pfizer’s COVID Vaccine for Children Ages 5 Through 11 “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that all children ages 5 through 11 get a low-dose COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech. The move clears the way for shots to be administered as soon as tomorrow, though it may be a few days before the vaccine is widely available.” NPR
Census Bureau Data Reveal Decline in School Enrollment “U.S. school enrollment dropped by 2.9 million from 2019 to 2020, with enrollment among the under-35 population dipping to its lowest level (52.4% of the total population) in over 20 years…” United States Census Bureau
Equity
This $800 Million Music and Arts Education Ballot Measure Could Be A Game Changer “Beutner and a broad coalition of educators, entrepreneurs and arts and music leaders announced their intent to place a measure on the November 2022 California ballot that would generate up to $800 million a year in new funding for arts and music education in public schools across the state.” Los Angeles Magazine
World Leaders to Explore Girls’ Education as Climate Crisis Solution at Upcoming United Nations Conference “Climate crises will prevent an estimated 4 million girls in lower- and middle- income countries from accessing education in 2021, according to the Malala Fund. With current policy and emission trends, weather-related disruptions will prevent 12.5 million girls from finishing their education by 2025.” The 74
California Ushers in Wave of Higher Education Bills “Those two bills together help streamline community college students’ path to the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems. With the California community college system serving about two million students, advocates like Dow say that reforming what has been called the “transfer maze” will be historic.” Diverse Issues in Higher Education
4-Year Degrees for California’s 2-Year Colleges “Community college leaders celebrated new legislation allowing their institutions to offer more four-year degrees. The measure is also a win for the national community college baccalaureate movement.” Inside Higher Ed
Calls-to-Action
Census Prompts Push for More Indigenous School Lessons “Many American Indians and Alaska Natives say the dramatic increase in their numbers recorded in last year’s census supports their longstanding argument that Indigenous history should get more attention in public school classrooms.” PEW
Honor Native Land: A Guide and Call to Acknowledgment “Acknowledgment is a simple, powerful way of showing respect and a step toward correcting the stories and practices that erase Indigenous people’s history and culture and toward inviting and honoring the truth. Imagine this practice widely adopted: imagine cultural venues, classrooms, conference settings, places of worship, sports stadiums, and town halls, acknowledging traditional lands. Millions would be exposed—many for the first time—to the names of the traditional Indigenous inhabitants of the lands they are on, inspiring them to ongoing awareness and action.” U.S. Department of Arts and Culture
Advocacy
2021 Policy & Advocacy Agenda “Creative communities across the LA region are hurting. The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the sector, underscoring the long-standing racial and economic inequities inherent in our cultural infrastructure.” Arts for LA
Policy
Pared-Down Social Spending Bill Retains Universal Pre-K, But Guts Biden’s K-12 Agenda “The child care and universal pre-K proposals in President Joe Biden’s social spending plan have survived efforts to slash the original $3.5 trillion price tag down to a figure more acceptable to two fiscally conservative Democrats in the Senate.” The 74
Governor Gavin Newsom signs SB-628 to advance California’s Creative Workforce Act of 2021 “Governor Gavin Newsom signs SB-628 to advance California’s Creative Workforce Act of 2021, a program that will address economic recovery, cultural equity, and job opportunity in the arts, culture, and creative industries.” Californians for the Arts
Bonamici, Pingree, Leger Fernández Launch Arts Education for All Act “The Arts Education for All Act will support and encourage arts education and programming for our young children, K-12 students, and youth and adults involved in the justice system. It will help to close existing gaps in access to arts education, which has the potential to improve the lifelong health and success of both children and adults.” Suzanne Bonamici
Three Lawsuits to Weigh the Most Explosive Issues in Schools this Year “In the coming months, lawsuits over bans on teaching critical race theory and COVID-19 vaccine mandates for students and teachers will test how much leeway officials have to shape school policy on some of today’s most explosive political issues.” The 74
Education and the Off-Year Election: 5 Big Storylines and 17 Key Contests That Could Affect Students & Schools “From New York City to northern Kansas, The 74 has been tracking a handful of noteworthy candidates and storylines through this off-year election cycle — some key votes with ramifications for America’s largest school districts and others sure to become national bellwethers for how education will be used in state and federal campaigns during the 2022 midterms.” The 74
Thanks for reading our arts education RECAP for November 2021. View all our past RECAPS here.
