In spring 2004, the National School Boards Association and Americans for the Arts convened to discuss opportunities for collaboration in a nationwide campaign to increase the presence and quality of arts education in American public schools. The arts serve as a critical component to a complete education and are proven to increase student academic achievement. Young people who consistently participate in comprehensive, sequential, and rigorous arts programs are:

• 4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement
• 3 times more likely to be elected to class office within their schools
• 4 times more likely to participate in a math and science fair
• 3 times more likely to win an award for school attendance
• 4 times more likely to win an award for writing an essay or poem*

For many of America's youth, public schools serve as the major provider of formalized arts instruction. Therefore, it is critical that the arts maintain their status as a core academic subject within a school district's educational mission and that they are adequately funded.

Learn more about how you, as a school board leader and arts education advocate, can secure a place for the arts in your district.

* Living the Arts through Language + Learning: A Report on Community-based Youth Organizations, Shirley Brice Heath, Stanford University and Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Americans for the Arts Monograph, November 1998.