Arts Education Advocacy
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Advocacy
Kit
Click on this
link to go to our "how to" arts education advocacy kit created for use
by communities interested in advocating for creating or enhancing arts education
programs. You can find additional advocacy materials on NM Arts' Publications
Page on this web site; these are our How to Host a Candidates' Forum
and our Advocacy 101 handbooks.
Gaining
the Arts Advantage
This document makes the case for district-wide
arts education by documenting lessons from school districts that value arts
education. This report from the President's Committee on the Arts & Humanities
and the Arts Education Partnership.
General
Advocacy Information
Use this link to access general advocacy links and information on the NM Arts'
"Organizational Resources" page, "Advocacy" section.
Keep
Art in the Schools
As a project for the Ford Foundation, Douglas Gould & Company presents messages
and results of opinion research that show us how best to frame arts education
for advocates who seek to build a constituency for lasting change. KeepArtsInSchools.org
features the work they have executed to date on this project and seeks to
arm advocates with the tools and resources they need to be more effective
in their work and in their communications to keep arts education in public
schools.
If you need further information about arts education advocacy, please contact our Service & Education Coordinator.
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NM Advisory Council on Arts Education Advocacy Sheet
PROMOTING
YOUR ARTS EDUCATION PROGRAM
TO YOUR LOCAL LEGISLATORS
Who are
they?
Most smaller districts are well aware
of the names and contact information for their state Representatives and Senators.
If you don't have that information, here are some ways to get it:
- Contact your local League of Women
Voters or the headquarters of either political party.
- Go to the state's web site: www.state.nm.us
- Under "Government in NM" go to "Legislative Branch" and click on "State Legislature"
- Click on "Find Your Legislator"
- Under both House and Senate click on "search by Name, District, or Zip Code" and search accordingly.
November Elections
With the majority of the focus on the
national elections, remember that many of your state Representatives and Senators
are up for re-election this year.
- Find out who the candidates are in
your House and Senate district(s).
- If there are local candidate forums, be sure to ask the candidates about their stand on funding for arts education.
- If you find a candidate who is not familiar with the Fine Arts Education Act (FAEA), this is a great chance to educate him or her!
Contacting
Your Legislators
If your legislators' re-election bid is
uncontested, please start contacting them right away about your program. If
your legislator is an incumbent who was supportive of the FAEA in the last
session, be sure to preface any of your contacts with him/her with a "thank
you" for their support.
If there is a contested election for your local Representative(s) and/or Senator(s),
wait until after the November election to begin contacting them with information
about your program.
Some Specific Suggestions
- If your arts program has a newsletter,
include your legislators on the mailing list.
- Invite your legislators to student concerts, plays and art exhibits. Make the invitation personal, i.e., a hand-written note on the "official" invitation (if there is one), an invitation made by a student, or even a personal phone call.
- If your legislator(s) actually attend,
be sure to
- greet him/her personally when they come in
- acknowledge their attendance to the audience if possible
- introduce him/her to folks he/she may not know, especially students
- Legislators like to be able to refer
to hard data and specific examples of success. Since pie chart and bar graph-type
data about arts program achievements are hard to determine, collect anecdotal
evidence of program success. Some examples might be:
- Make copies of notes sent to art and music teachers from students, classroom teachers, and parents regarding the positive effect(s) of arts instruction.
- Send a survey to classroom teachers
asking them to describe any examples of the positive influences that
music and/or art instruction have had on any of their students or on
their class as a whole (i.e., behavior, attendance, social development,
cross-curricular connections, etc.)
- Summarize the feedback you receive in a readable format. You'll be very gratified about how positive it will be!
- Take photos of arts specialists or artists working with children; a picture really is worth "a thousand words." Use the caption as an opportunity to explain how the arts can be a means for cross-curricular connections, multicultural awareness, problem-solving, critical thinking, etc.
- Have students write letters to their
legislators about why they think the arts are important.
- If you work with a classroom teacher on this project, it can also be a great civics lesson as well an additional opportunity to practice their letter-writing skills.
- Make sure your legislators know how to contact you: name, title, office address, phone, fax and email
Contact with your legislators is critical on a year-round basis, not just during the legislative session when they are bombarded with requests for their time and attention. Try to establish a presence for yourself and your program throughout the year and in a variety of ways. The more informed they are when they attend the legislative session, the better job they can do on behalf of arts education!