Bill Text: CA ACR25 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Arts Education Month.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 48-17)

Status: (Passed) 2011-04-13 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 12, Statutes of 2011. [ACR25 Detail]

Download: California-2011-ACR25-Introduced.html

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BILL NUMBER: ACR 25	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Campos

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2011

   Relative to arts education.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 25, as introduced, Campos. Arts Education Month.
   This measure would declare March 2011 to be Arts Education Month,
would encourage all elected officials to participate with their
educational communities in celebrating the arts, and would urge all
residents to become interested in and give full support to quality
school arts programs for children and youth.
   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, that the 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 subjects for all high school pupils wishing to
enter California's institutions of higher education; and
   WHEREAS, In 2006, the Legislature passed and Governor
Schwarzenegger signed into law a landmark investment in music and
arts education programs, including a block grant $105 million to
support standards-aligned instruction in kindergarten and grades 1 to
12, inclusive; and
   WHEREAS, In 2006, the Legislature also passed and Governor
Schwarzenegger signed into law an additional $500 million 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 Governor Schwarzenegger; and
   WHEREAS, The Legislature intends this funding to 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 Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature proclaims the month of March
2011 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 Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.