Please see the link above for the story that appears in today’s Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel. You’ll notice the article references today’s school board meeting held this morning. The next school board meeting open to the public is March 16, 2010, 9:45 AM, KCW Administration Bldg.
Activate your networks!
High school, middle school music directors and all secondary art teachers need to support the elementary programs which are the foundations of your own programs. Please activate your community supporters and booster organizations to contact
Broward School Board members. Phone numbers for each of them are found on the linked page.
It is important that every child in Broward County (and in Florida) have equal opportunities to study the arts and music in a sequential, quality, and comprehensive program. Don’t let this happen!
Talking points for conversations with school board members –
- None of the proposals will deliver the arts curriculum to students.
- Supplementing arts and music education with virtual field trips, video conferences and enrichment programs provided by the Broward Center for the Performing Arts is NOT the same as delivering an art or music sequential curriculum.
- When the arts and music have been shown to have a strong positive effect on student achievement in academic subject areas and on all elements measured by the Florida DOE (see the Commissioner’s memo of November 25, 2009), a decision to cut these subjects appears to be a position founded on “don’t bother me with the facts.”
Numbers matter! Persistence matters!
School board members, like all others elected to public office, are susceptible to public opinion. How many phone calls and personal conversations are generated about this issue matters!
This will also be a matter of keeping the pressure up for multiple school board meetings – in having the meeting room filled with parents and students each time, until they find another way of resolving the budget issue – without cutting these important elementary programs.
Polite, but with persistence, is how all conversations need to be addressed. (If you use email – please remember NOT to use the school district email system.)
Be the catalyst for action! How many calls can you motivate?
While our office will be keeping up with the Broward activities, please feel free to keep me updated yourself. It’s helpful to know how many calls are being made and which groups are being highly active.
Thanks for your action – and the action of your community supporters!
James Perry
Florida Art Education Association
Center for Fine Arts Education
402 Office Plaza
Tallahassee, FL 32301
800-301-3632