Art education supporters gathered outside the Brooklyn Academy of Music on May 8 to call for $38 million in program funding, which would ensure each school has at least one certified arts teacher and creative programs.
At the height of National Teacher Appreciation Week, educators joined with Brooklyn leaders including the New York City Arts in Education Roundtable and Music Educators Association of New York City to express the importance of art education and to ask city lawmakers for the protection of public art classes, proper funding and job security.
According to advocates, public schools started to experience a teacher shortage between 2020 and 2023, losing 425 full-time certified arts teachers. Representatives with the NYC Arts in Education Roundtable said 307 New York City public schools are currently going without a creative program.
“Dance, music, visual arts, media, literary arts, and theater all have the power to change students’ lives while opening new doors for them to succeed in and out of the classroom,” Kim Olsen, executive director of the NYC Arts in Education Roundtable, said in a statement. “But today, most public school students do not have sufficient access to the arts — and a dramatic decline in arts teachers is making it harder for schools to provide students with the holistic education they need.”
In an open letter to Mayor Eric Adams, leaders said to disinvest in the arts, is to disinvest in a holistic education experience. They said students who engage with an art program are more likely to thrive socially, emotionally and produce better academic results.
“The arts are essential, and our education system should reflect that,” Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso said. “Art is a powerful tool that can be used to share information, advocate for what is right, grow a business, or express who we are and what we feel.”
In March, the roundtable partnered with actors, students and educators to create a campaign called It Starts with the Arts. The campaign compiles ways the city could support public schools, including boosting the per-student art allocation from $80.47 to $100, restoring summer programs, securing baseline funding for the Department of Cultural Affairs and increasing data transparency.
“It’s critical that our students grow up with access to these essential skills, and that’s impossible without a robust arts education system that includes teachers of the arts in every school,” Reynoso said.
