8/6/2019 Kessler Education Update Editorial

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GUEST EDITORIALS: THE ARTS IN EDUCATION

PRESENTED TO

Dr. Pola Rosen

Harlem

Children

Society

HARLEM DREAM

AWARD 2008

Guest Editorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Spot light on Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 -11

Camps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Medical Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Special Educat ion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12-13

Leaders in Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Arts in Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15-17

Colleges & Grad Schools . . . . . . . . . .19-24

Movies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Interns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Letter s to the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

IN THIS ISSUE

Mailing Address:695 Park Avenue, Ste. E1509New York, NY 10065Email: ednews1@aol.comwww.EducationUpdate.comTel: 212-650-3552 Fax: 212-410-0591

PUBLISHERS:

Pola Rosen, Ed.D., Adam Sugerman, M.A.

ADVISORY COUNCIL:Mary Brabeck, Dean, NYU Steinhardt School

of Culture, Ed., and Human Dev.;Dr. Christine

Cea, NYS Board of Regents; Shelia Evans-

Tranumn, Assoc. Comm. of Education Emeritus,

NYS; Charlotte K. Frank, Ph.D., Sr. VP,

McGraw-Hill; Joan Freilich, Ph.D., Trustee,

Barnard College & College of New Rochelle;Andrew Gardner, Technology Teacher &

Advisor, The School at Columbia U.; Cynthia

Greenleaf, Ph.D., Sr. Assoc., Heidrick &

Struggles; Augusta S. Kappner, Ph.D., President

Emerita, Bank St. College; Harold Koplewicz,

M.D., Pres., Child Mind Institute; Ernest Logan,

Pres., CSA; Cecilia McCarton, M.D., Dir., The

McCarton Center; Michael Mulgrew, Pres., UFT;Eric Nadelstern, Prof. of Educational Leadership

Teachers College; Alfred S. Posamentier, Ph.D.,

Dean of Education, Mercy College; Jerrold

Ross, Dean, School of Education, St. Johns

University; David Steiner, Ph.D., Commissioner

of Education, NYS; Adam Sugerman, Publisher,Palmiche Press

ASSOCIATE EDITORS:

Heather Rosen, Rob Wertheimer

ASSISTANT EDITOR:

Jennifer MacGregor

GUEST COLUMNISTS:

Dr. Vicki Cohen, Dr. Susan Gitelson, Dr. S. G.

Grant, Dr. Carole Hankin, Dr. Randi Herman,

Victoria Keller, Richard Kessler, Dr. Joseph

Polisi, Dr. John Russell, Carol Sterling

SENIOR REPORTERS:

Joan Baum, Ph.D.; Vicki Cobb; Sybil Maimin;

Lisa Winkler

STAFF WRITERS:

Jan Aaron, McCarton Ackerman, Jacob Appel,

J.D., Judith Aquino, Adam Bloch, Alberto

Cepeda, Dorothy Davis, Rachel Gellert, Gillian

Granoff, Richard Kagan, Marylenna Mantas, Rich

Monetti, Katerzyna Nikhamina, Yuridia Pea,

Giovanny Pinto, Joy Resmovits, Marisa Suescun

BOOK REVIEWERS:

Harris Healy III, Merri Rosenberg

MEDICAL EDITOR:

Herman Rosen, M.D.

MODERN LANGUAGE EDITOR:

Adam Sugerman, M.A.

MOVIE & THEATER REVIEWS:

Jan Aaron

MUSIC EDITOR:

Irving M. Spitz

SPORTS EDITORS:

Richard Kagan, MC Cohen

ART DIRECTOR:

Neil Schuldiner

CROSSWORD:

David J. Kahn

INTERNS:

Dominique Carson, Genevieve Liberatore, GraceMcCarty, Catherine Rolfe.The interns are from

Brooklyn College, Barnard College and Columbia

University

Education Update is published bimonthly by

Education Update, Inc. All material is copyrighted

and may not be printed without express consent

of the publisher.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:

Education Update;695 Park Avenue, Ste. E1509;

New York, NY 10065-5024.

Subscription: Annual $30.Copyright 2011 Education Update

EDUCATION UPDATE

By JOSEPH W. POLISI, Ph.D.

n recent days, the artshave once again beencaught up in the turmoilof a political maelstrom

through the budget battle taking place in Washington. Consideringthe trillion dollar plus budget defi-cits that are projected, it seems particularly distressing that thecomparatively miniscule budget ofthe National Endowment for theArts ($155 million for fiscal year2011) would be considered fordeletion. Yet this political maneu-ver also shows how the arts areundervalued and misunderstood inAmerican society.

Of course, this is hardly a newstory for anyone who has been fol-lowing Americas culture warsduring the past few decades. Ourcountry has always had an uneasyrelationship with the arts, in con-trast to many other countries aroundthe world. Suffice it to say that anunderstanding of the arts can makeeach of us more caring, empathetichuman beings. In addition, it isoften through the arts that the com- plexities of the human experienceand all its associated emotions andvalues become clarified and moreunderstandable to us.

Although we can bemoan the factthat the arts are misunderstood inAmerica, our countrys artists havenot been as active as they shouldbe in changing the environment for

the better.In titling my 2005 book TheArtist as Citizen (Amadeus Press),I wanted to emphasize my beliefthat artists of the 21st century, espe-cially in America, must re-dedicatethemselves to a broader professionalagenda that reaches beyond what hasbeen expected of them in an earliertime. Specifically, the 21st-centuryartist will have to be an effectiveand active advocate for the arts incommunities large and small aroundthe nation. These artists must be not

only communi-cative throughtheir art, butalso be knowl-edgeable aboutthe intricaciesof our society politically, economically, social-ly so that they can effectivelywork toward showing the power ofthe arts to a nation and its peoplewho are often uninformed about thearts and view these activities withsuspicion, occasional disdain, andfrequently as being irrelevant.

This new agenda may not be asdifficult to achieve as one mightthink. Many of the young peoplewho study at Juilliard and univer-sities and colleges around the coun-try have a clear determinationto change the world through theirart. They exhibit a healthy mix ofidealism, determination, expertise,and energy a powerful combina-tion in such matters. By performingsuperbly in traditional settings andmaking the effort to engage commu-nity members through their artistry,Americas best young artists canpositively change the status of thearts in American society.

This agenda has been at the foun-dation of my time at Juilliard. Iam gratified to report that I haveseen more and more energized andtalented students from each ensu-ing Juilliard class go out into soci-ety with hopes and dreams that go

beyond the traditional professionalendeavors that we have known inthe previous century.

There should be no dividing line between artistic excellence andsocial consciousness. Americas art-ists of today must take on the chal-lenge of synergistically applyingthese two elements if the art formswe embrace are to continue to flour-ish and to communicate the humanvalues that emanate from them. #

Dr. Joseph Polisi is the president

of the Juilliard School.

Good Schools Have the

Arts What We Want

For All of Our KidsBy RICHARD KESSLER

ot having arts

education in the

New York City

public schoolsis like growing up in Bermuda

and never learning how to swim

Laurie M Tisch

The other day, I was walkinghome from the train when I raninto a neighbor. She asked me whatI did for a living. As I told her Iworked for an organization seekingto ensure a quality education thatincludes the arts for all New YorkCity public schools students, shewas surprised to learn that therewere students who didnt receivemuch of an arts education. What ismore, she was startled that some-thing like the arts would be per-ceived as a luxury item in New YorkCity, of all places.

The Center for Arts Educationhas not shied away from advocat-ing forcefully as a direct way of pursuing its mission. Its an hon-est manifestation of what we areabout: CAEs mission is dedicatedto ensuring that all kids get the arts,not just some and not just more. Itis the reason weve taken the some-what unusual step of speaking outand challenging the current admin-istration when we disagreed withtheir policies on arts education an administration that is led by oneof the very top arts patrons in theworld, and one who had supported

CAE with his own funds. When anorganization counts on donationsfor its programs it does not take tochallenging a modern day Mediciwithout a very good reason artseducation for all students is ourvery good reason and our cause.

So, what do we want, exactly?What are we asking for that seemsto be beyond the reach of the pow-ers that be when it comes to artsand education in the New York Citypublic schools?

We are seeking leadership thatwill end a crazy quilt school systemwhere one school is arts rich andanother, arts poor. We seek leader-ship that embraces the empower-ment of school leaders while rec-ognizing that there are limits to

empowerment, and one of thoselimits is a failure to provide even the

most minimalstate require-ments for artsinstruction inevery school forevery student.

There are mat-ters technical in nature and mattersof leadership. It is not acceptablefor four out of every 10 New YorkCity middle schools to fail to ensurethat all of their students receive thetwo semesters of the arts that arerequired by state law, or to have aquarter of all schools lacking evenone full-time certified teacher ofthe arts. Nor is it acceptable to letschool-based budgets drop dramati-cally for essential partnerships withthe citys cultural organizations,especially as these decreases beganduring a period of overall bud-get growth, prior to the economicdownturn, and now are decliningeven further and faster as the statecuts its funding for public educa-tion.

It is not acceptable to have artsin schools depend, in part, on thefundraising efforts of parents.

And it is not acceptable to havean accountability system that givesschools with little arts a grade ofA, sending a very wrong signal toschool communities about what isimportant and what is not. Is it toomuch to ask in this day and age ofeducation reform for all schoolsto provide the required curriculum?

What is more, we seek leadershipthat understands fully that subjectslike the arts are overwhelmed byan accountability system built ontest scores in reading and math,and that in order to buoy the arts,tools such as categorical fundingare a necessity.

It is possible to change this tostimulate and sustain arts programsfor all students but such changewill require the type of leadershipthat makes it known that schoolswithout the arts cannot be goodschools, and what is more, willno longer be accepted. We haveseen schools in poor neighborhoodsbuild glorious arts programs, and soknow that it is not only a matter ofmoney, but also of priority, empha-

sis, and vision.Today, there are big city school

Artists of 21st Century

Should be Advocates

for the Arts

EDUCATIONUPDATEis an independent

newspaper.

superintendents, like MichaelHinojosa in Dallas, who refuse tocut the arts, even in the midst ofmajor budget cuts. New York Citywould do well to look at such game

changing leadership and not be shyabout stealing a very important page

from his playbook so that the NewYork City will be both the arts capi-tal of the world and the arts educa-tion capital of the world. #

Richard Kessler is the execu-

tive director of The Center forArts Education.

3 EDUCATION UPDATE