SAY Sí (San Antonio Youth, YES) has long been known as San Antonio’s premier out-of-school time creative youth development organization. Since its inception in 1994, its growing success rates have garnered national attention and recognition. But for the first time in its 21-year history – SAY Sí’s tuition-free programs will go global. SAY Sí is the receipient of the 2013 Leadership in Arts Education Award from Americans for the Arts.

In California State Senator Ben Allen (D – Santa Monica)—the chair of the Joint Committee on the Arts—introduced Senate Bill 916 on January 27 to establish single-subject teaching credentials for dance and theatre. Also known as the Theatre and Dance Act, the bill was proposed in response to concerns raised at a hearing of the Joint Committee on the Arts held last fall about the lack of stand-alone credentials for dance and theatre. Sen.

Vans and Americans for the Arts envision a country where every child has access to—and takes part in—high quality learning experiences in the arts, both in school and in the community. As such, the two organizations partnered to create the Custom Culture Grant Program to promote awareness and support arts education in public schools. Today the partners announced that eight schools across the country that have been awarded a $2,500 grant for the 2015-2016 school year. 

The NABE Foundation, a partner of Americans for the Arts and the charitable arm of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) is awarding its eighth annual Americans for the Arts scholarship to encourage the integration of the arts into the economic education process.

During the week of December 14, 2015, the New York City Department of Education released the Annual Arts in Schools Report for the 2014-2015 school year. The report reflected the first year of data that was available since the city implemented its $23 million annual arts education funding initiative.

In a study released on December 16, 2015, Metro Schools’ collaborative Music Makes Us initiative is credited with increasing musical participation among Nashville students, as well as supplying them with the soft skills and character traits that will set them up for success in academics and life. The study shows growth in music programs at every level, particularly in the important middle school years, and 100 percent music participation at the elementary level.

The Every Student Succeeds Act, signed into law last Thursday, includes the arts alongside math and language arts in its definition of a "well-rounded education." That ensures that arts education programs and teachers are eligible to receive federal funds through provisions such as Title I, which supports disadvantaged students, and Title II, which supports teachers. 

Americans for the Arts is pleased to announce the newly elected leadership of its four National Advisory Councils. These individuals were nominated by their peers to advise Americans for the Arts staff on programs and services for the fields of Arts Education, Emerging Leadership, Public Art, and the Private Sector. Each will serve three year terms beginning January 1, 2016 and will join an existing slate of advisory council members, national leaders, who use their field expertise to connect the national work of Americans for the Arts to the local level.

In a speedy few weeks, Congress passed bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in landslide votes: 85-12 in the U.S. Senate and 359-64 in the U.S. House of Representatives.

On Wednesday, December 9, the Senate passed the Every Student Succeeds Act 85-12, on the heels of its passage in the House last week.

The bill — which the president is scheduled to sign Thursday, 12/9 — would "dump the current law’s intense focus on test scores and the well-intentioned but impossible goal of having all students reading and calculating at grade level." We're one step closer to saying a permanent farewell to the widely unpopular No Child Left Behind Act. 

The Little Rock Board of Directors unanimously passed on December 1 a two cent tax increase on hotels, motels, bed-and-breakfasts, and short-term vacation rentals to help fund cultural projects. While the hotel tax increase will not require voter approval, voters will decide on February 9 how the money will be allocated for improvements to MacArthur Park, the Arkansas Arts Center, and the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History. 

Indiana State Board of Education unanimously rejected a proposal from the Indiana Career Council in early November, which would have limited arts education for Indiana students.

The proposal was intended to provide high school graduation requirements for all students beginning with the class of 2022. It would have increased the amount of mathematics courses required, financial literacy and others. However, the proposed requirements would have limited school flexibility and removed the arts, allowing for wavers from arts courses for any honors students.

The National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Department of Education have selected the Education Commission of the States (ECS) to serve as the new host organization for the Arts Education Partnership.

The newest United Arts Fund in the country, Arts Alliance Tulsa (AAT), recently announced that 39 local arts nonprofits will be the recipients of funds raised in its inaugural campaign season. As a group, the organizations serve more than 1 million people every year, and produce more than $62 million in revenue for the local economy.

Today, the 39-member team of U.S. House and U.S. Senate members approved a conference agreement to rewrite K-12 federal education law. The text of the agreement will be publicly released within a few days, with a House vote as soon as December 2. The agreement will bring about new federal education law impacting a whole generation of students.

Today, the U.S. House and U.S. Senate held its first conference meeting to continue work to bridge differences and reauthorize the expired Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), impacting a whole generation of students.

Members of the committee made public, opening statements in anticipation of a final agreement, which has been anticipated to occur as soon as the week of November 30, given the framework now in place. The committee will meet again on Thursday, November 19th, to continue their work and consider amendments.

In April 2014, New York City Comptroller Scott Springer released the report, “State of the Arts: A Plan to Boost Arts Education in New York City,” which revealed unequal access to arts education for children living in New York City’s lowest income communities. It also revealed violations of the state’s mandates for the number of middle and high school arts teachers employed in New York City schools. To help address these issues, New York’s Department of Education (DOE) received $23 million in additional funding in its 2015 budget to help support new arts teachers, programs, and facilities.

As a tribute and a thank you to all our partners, Americans for the Arts is placing this advertisement featuring all our cross-sector awardees from 2015 in 14 publications this fall into early 2016. Our awardees will reach 377,000 readers and will appear on the pages of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Politico, and APAP’s Inside Arts magazine, just to name a few.

In collaboration with the Maryland State Arts Council and the Maryland State Department of Education, Maryland’s First Lady Yumi Hogan opened the First Lady’s Gallery, which is located in the House of Delegates Office Building in Annapolis, the state capitol. The gallery’s inaugural show features a selection of student artwork from more than 20 Maryland school systems and will run through November 13. The student art program will continue with future showcases every fall and spring.

Last night, at a ceremony and reception held at the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, DC, The Ovation Foundation, the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, and Americans for the Arts recognized eight schools as recipients of the innOVATION STEAM Grant Awards. The innOVATION STEAM Grant Awards acknowledged public K-12 model STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) programs in an effort to raise awareness about the importance of integrating the arts into educational curriculum.

Americans for the Arts wants you to elect art professionals from the field to serve on one of four network advisory councils: Arts Education, Emerging Leaders, Private Sector, and

Do you know of an arts professional from your community whose leadership and forward thinking could benefit the rest of the field? Or are you looking to gain leadership experience and take your involvement with Americans for the Arts to the next level?

Americans for the Arts wants you!

Every year there are new buzzwords which affect our work. Each day during the week of September 14–18, we will gather thought leaders to unpack these terms, where they came from, and their impact on our day to day work in arts education. These daily webinars will be held at 3:00 p.m. (EST) and last approximately 20 minutes. To continue the conversation, join Jeff Poulin (@JeffMPoulin) and special guests for a Twitter chat from 8:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m. (EST) by following the specified hashtag. 

Turnaround Arts and Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts announce a national partnership to support arts-integrated learning in early childhood classrooms across the country. Through in-class services for young children, ongoing training for educators, and resource development for the early childhood community at-large, the two organizations will work together to use the arts as a tool to improve student outcomes and school culture.

Each year, Americans for the Arts honors the best businesses partnering with the arts in America through the BCA10 awards. This summer, two of our previous honorees, Golden Artist Colors, Inc. (BCA 10 2012) and Scholastic Inc. (BCA 10 2013) have partnered to provide an unprecedented opportunity for art educators. Teachers of students who received recognition in the 2015 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards were invited to submit painted art-pieces for a chance to participate in a weeklong artist residency through the Sam & Adele Golden Foundation.

A newly released half-hour documentary tells the story of The Science and Technology High School in Springfield, Massachusetts, where dropout rates are so high and standard test scores so low that the state rates it Level 4.  At Level 5 the state has the right to take over the school and possibly send its 1500 students out into the city’s struggling public school system.

Stephen Colbert announced that he would fund every single request made by South Carolina public school teachers on the website DonorsChoose.org. The total donation clocked in at $800,000 and covered almost 1,000 projects at more than 375 schools.