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NYC Arts in Education Roundtable

NYC Arts in Education Roundtable Applauds New York City Council for its Support of Arts Education

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW YORK, NY — Today, the New York City Council released its preliminary budget response, which called for baselining critical funding for arts instruction and cultural organizations that provide essential arts education. In response, Kimberly Olsen, Executive Director of the NYC Arts in Education Roundtable, issued the following statement:

“The arts are critical for both our students and our city. Dance, music, theater, media, creative writing, and the visual arts allow students to grow both in and out of the classroom, develop awareness, broaden their perspectives, and pursue their passions. But for too many of our students, those opportunities are out of reach  — and with the Trump administration threatening to cut funding for crucial arts and cultural programs, even more students stand to lose access to arts education they need. 

Thankfully, the Council has again recognized the need to protect the arts and expand access to arts education to every student. We applaud the Council, including Speaker Adams, Finance Chair Brannan, Education Chair Rita Joseph, Cultural Affairs Chair Rivera, and Council Member Keith Powers, for prioritizing arts education, including support for baselining $41 million in arts funding that goes to every school and additional funding for world-renowned cultural institutions that provide essential support to the cultural workforce and vital programming for students who need it most. We’re confident that Mayor Adams will support the need to protect and invest in arts education, and we look forward to helping advance arts opportunities for our city’s students — because it starts with the arts.”

Background

In February, the New York City Arts in Education Roundtable joined with students and educators to relaunch “It Starts with the Arts,” a campaign urging the Mayor and City Council to support arts education funding and improve transparency about how city schools are spending the money. The Roundtable was proud to work alongside Mayor Adams and the City Council last year to protect $41 million in expiring COVID-era funding for arts education, but unless City leaders extend that funding, those funds could expire by the end of June. Now, the Roundtable is urging the Mayor and Council to continue their support for the arts by baselining funding for arts education programming in this year’s budget and ensuring every student has access to a full-time certified arts teacher.

In addition to baselining the $41 million in expiring city funding, the It Starts with the Arts campaign is calling on the city to:

  • Require DOE arts funding be spent on the arts ($12.5M): Boost the per student arts allocation to $100 from $86.67 and require that money be spent on arts education. 
  • Ensure Every School Has a Certified Arts Teachers ($30.5M): Ensure that all schools have at least one certified arts teacher, closing the equity gap for at least 290 schools. This can be done in part by bolstering the pipeline of certified arts teachers via supplemental certification program ($4M) or funding a PE Works-inspired improvement plan. 
  • Restore and Enhance “Support for Arts Instruction” initiative funding ($6M): Build on city’s down payment and boost allocation from $4M to $6M to meet city-wide demand. 
  • Center Arts and Culture in Youth Development Programs ($5M): Allocate funds to better support arts and cultural education opportunities during Summer Rising 2025 and other DYCD programs to support public safety and continued community-building opportunities via the arts. 
  • Restore and Increase Baseline Funding for the Department of Cultural Affairs
  • Improve arts education data transparency by compelling NYCPS to provide a school-by-school breakdown of the state of arts education in public schools via a Hearing, Legislative Services Request, T&C, and/or Oversight Hearing. 
  • Require more school-based arts reporting and goal-setting: Restore the inclusion of arts programs in all School Quality Snapshots and require arts education to be included in each District Education Plan and each school’s Comprehensive Education Plan. 

About NYC Arts in Education Roundtable:

The New York City Arts in Education Roundtable is a service organization working to improve and advance arts education. The Roundtable is a community of arts education practitioners dedicated to sharing information, providing professional development, and communicating with the public to promote our work in schools and beyond.

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