Giving Compass' Take:

• The Pennsylvania Department of Education shares how it revitalized its art education programming amid a "doomsday budget" from 2013-2014. 

• To rebuild its arts funding structures, the department sought out philanthropic support. How are you helping accommodate arts programs in your local school system?

• Read about arts education as career preparation. 

When the School District of Philadelphia adopted what was known as its “doomsday” budget for the 2013-2014 school year, there was barely enough money to maintain general education requirements mandated by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Schools across the city were left understaffed. The district’s Arts Department took a substantial hit, and schools were lucky if they were left with one art or music teacher.

“When we had the cuts, the schools just looked like they were bare-bones,” said Jennifer Bieter, the district’s budget director. “You had a principal, you had your teachers, you had a secretary, and if you were lucky, you had a counselor.”

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, all students in grades K-12 must be provided with a form of instruction in all four arts disciplines: dance, music, theater, and the visual arts.

It is the responsibility of the local districts to create written curricula in those areas, but it’s easy to skirt by and meet the state requirements in low-budget ways, especially in elementary schools. This means a first grade class with only one teacher can sing songs and draw pictures with students and be able to give them an art grade, allowing the principal to easily cut certified art and music teachers.

Fast forward seven years to the current academic year. Though arts budgets have not recovered to their pre-”doomsday levels,” every elementary and middle school in the city now has some amount of arts resources and schools with 300 students or less are given an extra $50,000 to help support the needs of their students, including arts related funding.

When the School District of Philadelphia feels state initiatives and local funding are stretched too thin, it searches for support among private and philanthropic partners.

Read the full article about building arts education programs with a limited budget by Amber Denham at Philadelphia Neighborhoods.