Letters to the Editor: I’ve seen LAUSD’s arts program transform students. It deserves full funding
To the editor: “I’m so excited to take my painting home.”
“I want to take my family back to the art gallery.”
“I’m going to write a story about the mural we visited.”
These are just some of the comments I would hear from students during their visit to the gallery and cultural center where I am an arts educator. So, I am pleased to read that the Los Angeles Unified School District has added $30 million to its budget for elementary arts education.
This past year, students from LAUSD came to our center through the Cultural Arts Passport program. For most of these students, it was their first visit to a small community-based art gallery.
Not once did I see cellphone scrolling during the three-hour visits. I witnessed students engaged in dialogue about art and culture with peers and teachers. They created art of their own, free of judgment or creative restrictions. Isn’t this what we want our students to experience?
I was an elementary classroom teacher for many years in under-served areas. I would have loved to have had a program like the Cultural Arts Passport for my students. I hope LAUSD does the right thing and restores Proposition 28 funds for arts education.
I am really looking forward to facilitating future art-centered field trips with the 2024-25 classes.
Julie Greenberg, Long Beach
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To the editor: It’s unsettling to read that LAUSD’s chief academic officer rationalized field trips to theme parks and TV sets.
The recurring theme in Proposition 28 is creating a “high-quality course of study” in the arts. The clear intent is that students actively engage in artistic activities. They need to be the creators of art, not the passive observers.
I am on the board of directors of the Silverlake Conservatory of Music, founded by an LAUSD alumnus who was upset when he returned to his alma mater 20 years later and saw the decline of music instruction at his school. There is still much to be done.
Joseph Braun, Los Angeles
