Written by: Celine and Seoyoon, 12th Graders in Los Angeles, YLS Student Leaders
Celine’s Perspective:
As a senior attending the Science Academy STEM Magnet in LAUSD, I often seek artistic outlets within my school’s rigorous curriculum. However, with a heavy focus on STEM subjects, my school fails to provide comprehensive exposure to the arts. Although the California Education Code requires public schools to offer dance, music, theater, and visual arts courses to K-12 students, my school only provides film/media arts, and theater classes. Recognizing this gap inspired me to create an orchestra club with other students to integrate music into our school. Despite significant student interest, our greatest setback came from the very education system that claimed to support students’ passions. After speaking with school officials about finding a teacher to supervise our club, we were told that our school did not have funds for a music teacher.
Discovering that our school lacked the financial means to support music education was surprising, especially considering the passing of Proposition 28 in November 2022. This initiative directs nearly $1 billion annually to California K-12 public schools to increase arts education programs. Despite this new funding, our school maintained that it was still unable to afford additional staff for the arts, leaving our club and its supporters without the necessary resources to succeed.
It was shocking to see that in an environment where students are encouraged to pursue various fields, the importance of art and humanities courses is minimized. The repercussions of this systemic neglect of arts education deprive students of opportunities for self-expression and exploration. If schools and their respective districts continue to fail to prioritize financial resources designed to supplement the arts, students like myself will continue to be denied opportunities that foster well-being, personal growth, and creative thinking.
Seoyoon’s Perspective:
Picture a community where students and adults with diverse backgrounds come together to express themselves through music and creative art. This is the annual Arts Justice Gallery, a project I helped create with my fellow ACLU Youth Liberty Squad (YLS) members. As students advocating for civil rights, our goal was to create an environment that celebrates artistic expression and uses art to raise awareness about social and environmental justice.
Despite attending a school where STEM is championed, I have always regarded art as both a refuge from stress and a unifying force. Remarkably, it was through this gallery that I discovered many YLS members were only able to access drumming and painting opportunities with YLS and not in their schools. If school districts expanded opportunities for the arts and properly invested funds, more students could uncover their passions and find a healing outlet within their education environment.
In 2022, the Youth Liberty Squad drafted and advocated for the Arts Justice Resolution passed in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to ensure equitable access to high-quality, comprehensive, and culturally relevant arts education across disciplines for all students. Students pushed the district to establish an Arts Advisory Council to gather student input in monthly meetings. At nearly every meeting, students, educators, and parents have raised issues about arts access and funding in the district.
The LA Times and other major media outlets have recently called out LAUSD for breaking the law by reducing spending on arts teachers and misusing Proposition 28 funds. The teachers union (UTLA), former LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner, and several organizations have argued that the state provided LAUSD with these funds to increase arts education, but instead, the district is using them to replace existing district funding. They have alleged that instead of hiring new arts staff, the district has redirected Proposition 28 funds to cover costs that were previously funded by the general budget. This practice has a genuine impact and limits my and other students’ ability to get the benefits of the additional funding for improving arts education promised to us. We’ve seen the same thing in other districts. LAUSD’s lack of transparency and failure to enforce equitable arts education reflects a broader trend seen in other California districts.
Despite its immense value, art remains significantly overlooked in education. Arts education is a fundamental civil right, and YLS students and the ACLU will not be silent as students’ rights and creative opportunities are violated.
Our experiences with limited art access are not uncommon. Many schools within LAUSD neglect arts education and offer minimal art classes. According to the A-G requirement, which outlines the minimum standards for admission to the University of California/Cal State University system, students must complete one year of visual and performing arts. At our school, offerings are substandard, with just two art classes available: film and theater. Students have little choice in selecting between these options, limiting their exposure to the diverse artistic disciplines such as dance, music, and visual arts that are required under law (more information available here; CA Education Code section 51210 & 51220).
While LAUSD fails to implement Prop 28, other school districts across California are excelling. Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) has used its Proposition 28 funds more effectively. Despite being much smaller than LAUSD, the second-largest school district in the nation, LBUSD hired an additional 150 art teachers and aides. By contrast, LAUSD has barely increased its number of art teachers or adjusted its funding allocation.
Long Beach Unified’s actions prove that expanding arts education is feasible. To us, art represents freedom. We want LAUSD and other school districts to adhere to the rules set out by Proposition 28. The Youth Liberty Squad will continue fighting for change until every student in California receives the high-quality arts education they are rightfully entitled to.
GET INVOLVED by attending Arts Justice Council Metting in LAUSD. Follow the Youth Liberty Squad on Instagram for the latest.
SUMBIT STUDENT ART to our digital art journal for justice at www.theroadtofind.org.