Upcoming Legislation to Affect Arts Education in Delaware
House Bill 46
Delaware Arts Alliance needs your help! This bill can be reviewed as soon as this week, so please email your representatives as soon as possible to let them know the importance of the arts in education! Click HERE for a list of legislators and their email addresses.
Earlier today (23 April 2013), Delaware Arts Alliance sent the letter below:
The members of the Delaware Arts Alliance (DAA) www.DelawareArtsAlliance.org are very pleased that the Senate Bill 27 with SA1 passed through the Senate on April 16th and is being sent back to the House of Representatives for consideration. We are equally pleased that the Arts are included in the bill under section b3 which reads: Programs that contain programming of the type enumerated in 14 Del. C. § 3101(6), including but not limited to programs focused on the visual and performing arts, shall be eligible to receive grants under this Section, provided that they otherwise qualify under this Section.
However, in an effort to make the bill more timely and accurate we propose that you consider including the Arts and Humanities in section d of the bill which reads: "Academic work" for purposes of this statute shall consist of work in the areas of Writing, Reading, Science, Math, or Engineering, or work in other areas (including history and social studies) that specifically incorporates one of those academic fields.
To Read: "Academic work" for purposes of this statute shall consist of work in the areas of English Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, Math, World Languages, and Visual and Performing Arts, (Dance Music, Theatre and Visual Art).
The rationale is that the inclusion of the Arts and Humanities in the later rather than the former would rightfully place the Arts and Humanities among rigorous academic content areas as defined by the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA):
"The arts (dance, music, theater, and visual arts) are considered “core academic subjects” under federal law—the Elementary & Secondary Education Act (ESEA)."
Source: Americans for the Arts http://artsusa.org/networks/arts_education/arts_education_015.asp
We will be more than happy to help in the process to include the arts to strengthen our kid’s curriculum.
Many thanks for your consideration!