Arts in Education: Background and Legislation

Arts in Education: Background and Legislation

Order Code RL33788
Arts in Education: Background and Legislation
Updated January 23, 2007
Susan Boren
Specialist in Social Legislation
Domestic Social Policy Division

Arts in Education: Background and Legislation
Summary
The “arts” are considered a core academic subject as part of the core curriculum
for K-12 education, according to the Goals 2000 panel and as defined in the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended. The federal program
that supports integrating arts in the schools at the K-12 level is the Arts in Education
program, authorized under the ESEA, as amended, and administered by the
Department of Education (ED). This program provides grants for model projects that
integrate the arts into school curricula. It has, in the past, given two major grants:
one to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and one to the Very
Special Arts (now VSA ARTS) program for children with disabilities. P.L. 106-554
increased funding from $11.5 million to $28.0 million for additional arts education
grants in FY2001.
In the 107th Congress, the Arts in Education program was considered under the
No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) (P.L. 107-110) as part of the reauthorization of
the ESEA, and it remains a separate program under ESEA, Title V, Part D, Subpart
15. The 110th Congress is likely to actively consider reauthorization to amend and
extend the ESEA, including any amendments to the Arts in Education program.
The FY2006 appropriation for the Arts in Education program was $35.3
million. Both in FY2006 and FY2007, the Bush Administration proposed to
eliminate funding for the Arts in Education program. The FY2007 Departments of
Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (L-HHS-
ED) Appropriations bill (H.R. 5647, H.Rept. 109-515), as reported by the House
Appropriations Committee during the 109th Congress, would have provided no
specific funding for the Arts in Education program. In contrast, the Senate
Appropriations Committee-reported bill would have provided $36.5 million for Arts
in Education for FY2007. This would have included $6.369 million for the Kennedy
Center for the Performing Arts program, $7.44 million for VSA ARTS, and $7.936
million for professional development for music, dance, drama, and visual arts
educators, a program to be administered by ED. It would also have included $13.755
million for the competitive art education model grants program and $1 million to
continue evaluations and national dissemination of information regarding model
programs and professional development.
The third continuing appropriations resolution (CR) for FY2007 (P.L. 109-383)
carried funding for the Arts in Education program through February 15, 2007, at the
lower of the House-passed, Senate-passed, or FY2006 level. In this instance, the
FY2006 funding level ($35.3 million ) will be provided.
This report provides background and legislative history on arts in education. It
will be updated as legislative activity occurs.

Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Recent Developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
The Arts in Education Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
VSA ARTS (Formerly Very Special Arts) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Trends in Arts in Education Funding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Appropriations for Arts in Education — FY2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Appropriations for Arts in Education — FY2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Appendix A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
List of Figures
Figure 1. Arts in Education Funding, FY1976-FY2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
List of Tables
Table 1. Arts in Education Program Funding, FY1976-FY2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Arts in Education:
Background and Legislation
Introduction
According to the Goals 2000 panel1 and the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESEA), as amended, the “arts” are considered a core academic
subject and part of the core curriculum for K-12 education. This report explores the
Arts in Education program, the federal program that supports integrating arts in the
schools at the K-12 level, authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act, as amended, and administered by the Department of Education (ED). Arts in
Education provides grants for model projects that integrate the arts into school
curricula. In the past, the Arts in Education program has given two major grants: one
to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and one to the Very Special
Arts (now VSA ARTS) program for children with disabilities. P.L. 106-554
increased funding from $11.5 million to $28.0 million for additional model arts
education grants in FY2001.
In the 107th Congress, the Arts in Education program was considered under the
No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA, P.L. 107-110) as part of the reauthorization of
the ESEA, and it remains a separate program under ESEA, Title V, Part D, Subpart
15. The 110th Congress will likely consider reauthorization legislation to amend and
extend the ESEA, including any amendments to the Arts in Education program.
The final appropriation for FY2006 for the Arts in Education program was
$35.3 million. Both the FY2006 and FY2007 Bush Administration budgets proposed
to eliminate funding for the Arts in Education program.
Recent Developments
The FY2007 Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and
Education, and Related Agencies (L-HHS-ED) Appropriations bill (H.R. 5647,
H.Rept. 109-515), as reported by the House Appropriations Committee during the
109th Congress, would have provided no specific funding for the Arts in Education
program. In contrast, the Senate Appropriations Committee-reported bill (S. 3708,
S.Rept. 109-287) would have provided $36.5 million for Arts in Education for
FY2007. The third continuing resolution (CR) for FY2007 (P.L.109-383) carried
1 The Goals 2000 panel was established by the Educate America Act (P.L. 103-277) to
determine what goals were to be established. The Goals panel enumerated, as one of its
goals, an objective to make the arts (music, dance, theater, and visual arts) core subjects in
the elementary and secondary education curriculum.

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funding for the Arts in Education program through February 15, 2007, at the lower
of the House-passed, Senate-passed, or FY2006 level. In this case, the FY2006
funding level ($35.3 million) will be provided.
Background
The Goals 2000: Educate America Act (P.L. 103-227) designated the arts
(music, dance, theater and visual arts) as core subjects to be taught in the nation’s
schools, grades K-12. In response to Goals 2000, voluntary national standards2 were
developed by a consortium of the National Arts Education Association and the
National Committee for Standards in the Arts, under a joint grant from ED, the
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the National Endowment for the
Humanities (NEH). The purpose of these standards was to provide explicit detail
about what American students should know and be able to do in the arts.3 The
importance of arts in education was reinforced by the NCLBA (P.L. 107-110), in
which the arts were included as core academic curricula in tandem with such subjects
as language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, and history (ESEA,
Section 9101 (11)).
The Arts Report Card released by the National Assessment of Educational
Progress (NAEP),4 reported on the first national assessment of participation and
achievement levels in arts education programs in K-12 schools.5 NAEP is a
“nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America’s students
know and can do in subject areas.”6 The NAEP arts assessment was conducted with
students in grade 8 in 1997. It looked at music, visual arts, and special samples for
dance and theater. Most students attended schools in which instruction, following
district or state curricula, was offered in the subjects of music and visual arts, but not
in theater or dance. Seventy-two percent of the students attended schools that
2 See Music Educators National Conference, National Standards for Arts Education:
Education Reform, Standards, and the Arts, 1994.
3 Within each grade-level cluster, (K-4, 5-8, and 9-12) the standards are organized by arts
discipline: dance, music, theater, and visual arts. Within each of the disciplines are the
specific competencies considered essential for every student. Each standard has two
components: content and achievement level. Standards specify the level of competency that
students are expected to achieve in each of the arts at the completion of grades 4, 8, and 12.
According to the Music Educators National Conference, 49 states and the District of
Columbia have adopted some kind of state music education standards similar to, but not
necessarily identical to the national standards. Iowa has content and performance standards
adopted at the local level, not at the state level. There was no requirement under Goals 2000
or the No Child Left Behind Act that states and localities must adopt the national standards.
4 National Center for Education Statistics, Arts Report Card: Eighth-Grade Findings from
the National Assessment of Educational Progress (Washington, DC: 1999).
5 NAEP’s assessment was designed independent of, and has no direct relation to, the
National Standards for Arts Education.
6 Ibid. NAEP is a congressionally mandated project of the National Center for Education
Statistics at the U.S. Department of Education.

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followed a district or state curriculum in music, and 64% attended schools that
followed a district or state curriculum in visual arts. Only 15% of students attended
schools with a district or state curriculum for theater, and 10% attended schools with
a district or state dance curriculum. Achievement levels varied by art component.
For example, in the music “responding” category, 79% of students could identify
Brahms’s “Lullaby” as being suitable for putting a child to sleep and, in addition,
justified their answer. In visual arts, 55% of students could identify which works of
art in a sample were examples of contemporary Western art. Female students
consistently outperformed male students on “creating, performing, and responding”
in the total arts assessment. Higher levels of parental education were associated with
higher levels of student performance in the arts assessment. Another such assessment
is not scheduled until 2008.
A report published in 2002, by the National Center for Education Statistics, Arts
Education in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools, 1999-2000, indicated that
94% of elementary schools had classroom instruction in music, and that 87% of
elementary schools had instruction in the visual arts. Seventy-seven percent of
elementary schools sent students to arts performances (concerts, plays, etc.), and 65%
of elementary schools provided trips to art galleries and museums. Among
secondary schools, 90% of these schools had music instruction, and 93% had visual
arts instruction.
The Arts in Education Program
The federal Arts in Education program administered by ED7 complements arts
education programs administered by the NEA.8 It was first established by the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. It authorizes national
demonstration and federal leadership activities for local educational agencies (LEAs),
state educational agencies (SEAs), institutions of higher education (IHEs), and state
and local nonprofit arts organizations, primarily to help integrate the arts into K-12
school curriculum. Activities include the establishment of model arts education
programs for K-12 schools throughout the states, development of arts curricula,
design of arts assessments, and creation of model professional development programs
in the arts for teachers and administrators.
7 Other federal programs provide funding for arts education, including the National
Endowment for the Arts and the Challenge America Arts Fund, but Arts in Education has
been the only federal program singularly focused on arts education for K-12. Arts in
Education was previously authorized under Title X (Programs of National Significance),
Part D, Subpart 1 of ESEA. The NCLBA, P.L. 107-110, maintained Arts in Education as
a separate program, but placed it under Innovation and Improvement, the Fund for the
Improvement of Education, for funding authority.
8 NEA administers arts education programs through direct grants for programs with a
national focus and through state arts agencies. It also administers the Challenge America
Arts Fund, a program providing matching grants for arts education, outreach and community
arts activities for rural and underserved areas. See NEA, FY2007 Interior Appropriations
Request.

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An earlier reauthorization of ESEA, the Improving America’s Schools Act of
1994 (P.L. 103-382), extended the Arts in Education program and added a new
authority (Title X, ESEA, Part D, Subpart 2) for at-risk youth. The purpose of the
Cultural Partnerships for At-Risk Children and Youth program was to provide seed
money through demonstration grants to local educational agencies in partnership with
communities to improve cultural resources for at-risk children and youth. This
program was funded in FY2003, when it provided 19 awards and $4 million, and in
FY2004, when it provided 18 awards and $3.976 million. FY2004 was the last year
of funding for Partnerships for At Risk Youth. There is no mention in the FY2005
Labor-HHS-ED Appropriations Conference Report (H.Rept. 108-792) of separate
funding for the “youth at-risk” arts program in FY2005, and the FY2006
Administration budget also stated that FY2004 was the last year for program funding.
The Arts in Education program also funded Media Literacy grants; they were last
funded in FY2003.9
In the 107th Congress, provisions to extend and amend authority for the Arts
in Education program were included in H.R. 1, the ESEA reauthorization, signed into
law on January 8, 2002, as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA, P.L. 107-110).
H.R. 1 provided a separate program for Arts in Education (Title V-D, Subpart 15)
and included within its “purposes” “support of the national effort for students to
demonstrate competence in the arts.” Funds were authorized under NCLBA for
SEAs, LEAs, IHEs, museums, other cultural institutions, public agencies, and
private organizations, for research on arts education; dissemination of information
about model school-based arts education programs; development of curricular
frameworks for arts education; in-service professional development; and model
projects in the arts, including those established by the John F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts and VSA ARTS. If the appropriation is $15 million or less for Arts
in Education, then the VSA ARTS program and the Kennedy Center arts education
programs are the only programs to be given funding priority. The actual funding
authorization is tied to ED’s Fund for the Improvement of Education (FIE),
(ESEA,Title V, Part D).
Appropriations for Arts in Education ($35.1 million in FY2004, $35.6 million
in FY2005, $35.3 million in FY2006), have in the past generally funded two major
awards: one to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts ($6.2 million in
FY2004, $6.4 million in FY2005, $6.3 million in FY2006 ), and one to VSA ARTS
($7.2 million in FY2004, $7.4 million in FY2005, $7.3 million in FY2006). In
addition to these awards, recent appropriations have funded competitive grants for
projects that integrate the arts into the core curriculum ($10.0 million in FY2004,
$13.4 million in FY2005, $13.3 million in FY2006). The remaining Arts in
Education funding for FY2006, included $494,000 for program evaluations and $7.8
million for model professional development activities for arts educators in music,
dance, theater, and visual arts.
9 The Media Literacy program promoted understanding of and use of media to prevent
violence. The media literacy program received $990,000 in FY2000, $2.0 million in FY2001
and FY2002, and $1.061 million for FY2003, the last year it was funded.

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John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The Arts in Education grant provides funding for several arts education
programs at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts that annually serve
an estimated 5 million people — students, teachers, and audiences. Arts in
Education supports the Kennedy Center’s Alliance for Arts Education project, which
is a national network of state arts education committees, operating in partnership with
the Kennedy Center, and helping to integrate the arts into K-12 school curricula. In
addition, Arts in Education funding helps to provide support for the Kennedy
Center’s American College Theater Festival, which involves an estimated 30,000
students and 5,600 teachers who participate annually. It includes regional theater
festivals as well as a National festival in Washington D.C., and an audience of
600,000 people.10 The Kennedy Center helps to produce regional theater festivals as
well as the national festival in Washington. The Arts in Education program also
funds what is called Imagination Celebration, a performing arts festival conducted
both at the Kennedy Center and in U.S. cities across the nation. Finally, the grant
supports the Performing Arts Centers and Schools: Partners in Education program,
which brings together staff of regional arts centers and school systems to study model
programs. An institute has been formed that fosters partnerships between schools
and communities.11 Workshops focus on teaching the arts or teaching other subject
areas through the arts and these workshops serve 2,000 teachers annually.
VSA ARTS (Formerly Very Special Arts)
Funding for the VSA ARTS program helps “to integrate the arts into the lives
of the disabled.” VSA ARTS is an international nonprofit organization, founded in
1974 by Jean Kennedy Smith. The program was created as an affiliate of the John
F. Kennedy Center and has established organizations in all 50 states, the District of
Columbia, and in 85 countries. Using the arts — creative writing, dance, drama,
music, theater, visual arts — VSA ARTS’s goal is to help disabled students develop
learning skills and become independent. VSA ARTS introduces art to children with
disabilities through a range of programs in elementary and secondary schools,
hospitals, and rehabilitation centers. It also supports national programs for physically
or mentally challenged adults such as employment training through the arts to
enhance skills. One program called playwright discovery, is a competition for one-
act plays written by and preformed by disabled persons on disabilities themes. The
soloist program for musicians with disabilities culminates in a Kennedy Center
recital.12 VSA ARTS helps visual artists with disabilities by representing them and
showing their work in VSA galleries. VSA ARTS has become an advocate for artists
10 Department of Education, FY2007, Justifications of Appropriations Estimates to the
Congress, vol. 1 (2006), p. E117.
11 A study by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities titled Gaining the
Arts Advantage, examines what makes a successful arts education program. A study of 91
school districts indicated that the first “critical factor in sustaining arts education” is the
active involvement of the community that values the arts.
12 Steve Hendrix and Cameron Davidson,”Accept No Limitations [...],” American Way, Apr.
1998.

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with disabilities, monitoring compliance of institutions, galleries, and related
organizations with the Americans with Disabilities Act and other relevant statutes.
There were approximately 4.3 million students participating during FY2004 in the
VSA ARTS state-initiated and national programs and festivals.13 According to VSA,
one-third of the children with autism who participated in a VSA music program
“showed improved social, verbal, and listening skills.”14
Trends in Arts in Education Funding
The Arts in Education program began in FY1976, and was funded at $750,000.
Since the program’s inception, appropriations have generally increased.15 (See
Figure 1.)
Figure 1. Arts in Education Funding, FY1976-FY2006
13 Department of Education, FY2005, Justifications of Appropriations Estimates to the
Congress, 2004, vol. 1, pp. E92-E96. (No comparable figures appear in later Justifications.)
14 Department of Education, FY2007, Justifications of Appropriations Estimates to the
Congress, 2006, vol. 1, p. E119.
15 See Figure 1, and Table 1 in Appendix A of this report.

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Source: Figure prepared by CRS, October 2006, based on data from the Annual Evaluation
Reports and Budget Justifications, U.S. Department of Education.
Note: Inflation is calculated based on the GDP deflator as indicated in the OMB FY2007
Historical Tables, Table 10.1, using FY2006 dollars.
Appropriations for Arts in Education — FY2006
The FY2006 Administration budget and the House-passed FY2006 L-HHS-ED
Appropriations bill (H.R. 3010) did not provide funding for Arts in Education.
However, the Senate-passed bill for FY2006 included Arts in Education funding
($35.7 million), and the final appropriation for FY2006 was $35.3 million. (See
Figure 1 and Table 1 in this report.)
Appropriations for Arts in Education — FY2007
The President’s FY2007 budget request proposed no funding for the Arts in
Education program because of the Administration’s attempt to concentrate on high-
priority programs by eliminating funding for smaller categorical programs that have,
in the Administration’s view, a narrow or limited effect, in favor of broad state grant
programs. The FY2007 budget sought to eliminate funding for this and other
programs, which receive their funding through the Fund for Improvement of
Education (FIE).
The FY2007 L-HHS-ED Appropriations bill as reported by the House
Appropriations Committee during the 109th Congress would have provided no
specific funding for the Arts in Education program. In contrast, the Senate
Appropriations Committee-reported bill would have provided $36.5 million for Arts
in Education. This would have included $6,369,000 for the Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts programs, $7,440,000 for VSA Arts, $7,936,000 for professional
development for music, dance, drama, and visual arts educators to be administered
by the Department of Education. It would also have included $13,755,000 for the
competitive art education model grants program and $1 million to continue
evaluation and national dissemination of information regarding model programs and
professional development programs. The third continuing appropriations resolution
(P.L.109-383) will carry funding for the Arts in Education program through February
15, 2007 at the lower of the House-passed, Senate-passed or FY2006 level. In this
instance, the FY2006 funding level ($35.3 million) will be provided. (See Table 1,
in Appendix A, below.)

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Appendix A
Table 1. Arts in Education Program Funding, FY1976-FY2007
($ in thousands)
Appropriations in
Appropriations in
Fiscal year
constant FY2006
current dollars
dollars (rounded)
1976
$750
$2,200
1977
1,750
4,700
1978
2,000
5,100
1979
3,000
7,000
1980
3,500
7,600
1981
2,025
4,000
1982
2,025
3,700
1983
2,025
3,600
1984
2,125
3,600
1985
3,157
5,200
1986
3,157
5,100
1987
3,337
5,200
l988
3,315
5,000
1989
3,458
5,100
1990
3,851
5,400
1991
4,392
6,000
1992
8,600
11,400
1993
6,944
9,000
1994
8,944
11,400
1995
10,500
13,100
1996
9,000
11,000
1997
9,000
10,800
1998
10,500
12,400
1999
10,500
12,300
2000
11,500
13,200
2001
28,000
31,400
2002a
30,000b
33,000
2003
33,779
36,400
2004
35,071
36,900
2005 35,633
36,500
2006 35,277
35,277
2007 Budget request
$0c
—
2007 House committee-
$0
—
reported bill
2007 Senate committee
$36,500
—
reported bill

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Appropriations in
Appropriations in
Fiscal year
constant FY2006
current dollars
dollars (rounded)
2007 continuing
resolution through
$35,277
—
February 15, 2007
Source: Prepared by CRS in October 2006 using multiple tables from the Labor-HHS-Ed
Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee and the Annual Evaluation Reports and Budget
Justifications, U.S. Department of Education.
a. The Arts in Education program is now authorized under Innovation and Improvement Programs
(ESEA, Title V, Part D, Subpart 15).
b. A one-time appropriation of $1.65 million was provided for the VSA ARTS festival.
c. The Bush Administration’s FY2007 budget request sought to eliminate funding in FY2007 for
some of the programs (including Arts in Education) under ESEA, Title V, Part D.