September 2004 Newsletter

SMARTS: BRING BACK THE ARTS

CALIFORNIA STATE PTA ONLINE NEWSLETTER

September 2004

SMARTS is California State PTA's program to encourage arts education. The California State PTA wants to create advocates for quality arts education at every school in California. We hope you will spread the word about the benefits of arts education. Please e-mail this newsletter to PTA district, council and unit members.

In this issue:

1) Advocacy for the Arts

Good News: U.S. Education Secretary Says "Don't Cut the Arts!"
Arts Education: Top Priority for Education Commission of the States
New Research: Music Helps Learning
California Governor Vetoes Arts Funding
Advocacy Resources on the SMARTS Website

2) Interactive Websites for Parents, Teachers, and Students

Shakespeare: Subject to Change
Inside Art: An Adventure in Art History
Picturing Women
Color Theory for Teachers and Kids
Cartoon Collection from the Library of Congress
The Great American Landmarks Adventure

3) Announcements

Back to School with the Arts
Visit the Online Reflections Program Gallery
The ASCAP Foundation Music Grants
The Mockingbird Foundation, Inc.
California Arts Day

1) Advocacy for the Arts

Good News: U.S. Education Secretary Says "Don't Cut the Arts!"
U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige has sent a letter to school superintendents asking them not to cut arts instruction. The letter contains suggestions on how to use federal funds to support the arts. You may want to copy this letter and send it to your superintendent.
http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/secletter/040701.html

Arts Education: Top Priority for Education Commission of the States
"The goal of the ECS Chairman's Initiative on Arts in Education is to ensure every child has the opportunity to participate in, learn about and enjoy the arts…. State leaders have a responsibility to make - and keep - the arts strong in our schools." Visit the ECS website and click on Chairman's Initiative.
http://www.ecs.org/ecsmain.asp?page=/html/projects.asp

New Research: Music Helps Learning
New research finds links between IQ and music.
http://www.sciencentral.com/articles/view.php3?language=english&type=&article_id=218392326

California Governor Vetoes Arts Funding
Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed funding for the California Arts Council ($1 million) and the Arts Works grants ($6 million) for this year's budget. You can find more information about the CAC cuts at: "No light at end of the tunnel for state arts funding."
http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/10301194p-11221331c.html

According to California Alliance for Arts Education, since the inception of the Arts Works grants in 1999, the program distributed funding to over 32,000 schools, serving over 6 million students and 90,000 teachers.

The Governor issued the following message:
"I am deleting the $6,000,000 legislative augmentation ...to provide Arts Works grants. While I am supportive of arts programs, this small, competitive grant program serves relatively few schools. These funds, which count towards Proposition 98 2003-04 obligations, will be appropriated to schools at a future date. During this time of fiscal difficulties, these funds should be spent for educational priorities agreed to with education leaders to provide more flexible funding so local schools can fund their most important needs." You can find more information about the Arts Works grants at
http://www.artsed411.org/involved/artsworkimpact.stm.

Thank you to the hundreds of PTA members throughout the state who wrote letters and signed petitions in support of arts funding.

Advocacy Resources on the SMARTS Website
This California State PTA website contains advocacy resources for parents and teachers.
http://www.capta.org/sections/programs-smarts/index.cfm

2) Interactive Websites for Parents, Teachers, and Students

Shakespeare: Subject to Change
Cable in the Classroom brings you an interactive website on Shakespeare: How the journey from pen to printing press changed Shakespeare's words…and more.
http://ciconline.org/bdp1/

Inside Art: An Adventure in Art History
Visit an imaginative site that combines art history and a little adventure.
http://www.eduweb.com/insideart/

Picturing Women A Web exhibit exploring historical and contemporary representations and self-representations of women - how they are figured, fashioned, turned into portraits, and told about in words and pictorial narrative. http://www.picturingwomen.org/

Color Theory for Teachers and Kids
Take a peek at this online resource for teachers, parents, and students on color theory.
http://members.cox.net/mrsparker2

Cartoon Collection from the Library of Congress
You can find political cartoons, caricatures, comic strips, humor cartoons, illustrations, and animation cels on this website. Virtually every aspect of the genre is represented by leading creators, making the Library's cartoon collections both comprehensive and unrivaled in the United States.
http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/artwood/

The Great American Landmarks Adventure
The Great American Landmarks Adventure takes you on a trip through time and space through a series of drawings by Roxie Munro. You'll see 43 National Historic Landmarks and learn about more than 3,000 years of our country's past. Travel has been arranged by Heritage Preservation Services, National Park Service.
http://www2.cr.nps.gov/pad/adventure/tripintro.htm

3) Announcements

Back to School with the Arts The Kennedy Center provides resources for teachers to bring the arts into the classroom. http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/3637/

Visit the Online Reflections Program Gallery
National PTA Reflections Program is an arts recognition and achievement program for students. National PTA believes all children deserve a quality arts education and encourages students to pursue artistic expression.
http://www.pta.org/parentinvolvement/reflections04/

The ASCAP Foundation Music Grants
All public, private and charter schools are eligible to apply. Application deadline: October 15, 2004.
http://www.ascapfoundation.org/grantguidelines.html

The Mockingbird Foundation, Inc.
The Mockingbird Foundation, Inc., which generates charitable proceeds from fans of the rock band Phish, funds music education programs for children.

http://www.mockingbirdfoundation.org/funding/ California Arts Day is October 1, 2004-a time for Californians to show how much they value the arts. For information on how to participate, visit the website of the California Arts Council.
http://www.cac.ca.gov/

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