The Note: May 13, 2014

Arts and Education News from the Education Policy and Leadership Center and the PA Arts Education Network

 

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In This Issue
Spring Advocacy Recap
Gubernatorial Resources
Harrisburg Briefing Call Recording
Save the Date: 2014 Symposium
Governor's School Alumni Network
FY 14-15 State Budget
Legislative Activity
Arts and Culture Caucus
Creative Industries Report
ArtScan Policy Database
NEA ELI Alumni Summit Report
2014 Natl Art Educator of the Year Award
SupportMusic Coalition Live from the NAMM Fly-In
Art: The Universal Language Art Contest
Creative Leadership Grants
 
Budget Documents


Appropriations Leaders
House Appropriations Majority Chairman
House Appropriations Minority Chairman
Senate Appropriations Majority Chairman
Senate Appropriations Minority Chairman

EPLC Budget Summaries
Share the Network's  Policy Agenda with your 
State and Local Leaders!
   
Read and share the Policy Agenda, hereand remember that your voice 
as a constituent is valued!
Please direct information about
upcoming events, research reports, awards, and all other news foinclusion on the Network website, Facebook page, calendar, or monthly Note to Laura Abbott at abbott@eplc.org.

 

All other matters about the Network, the Policy Agenda, and related advocacy should be directed to Ron Cowell at cowell@eplc.org.


PA Arts Ed Network Logo White Background
PCA
PHMC
 
 
  
Spring Advocacy Activities
  
Spring Advocacy Recap
On April 29, Citizens for the Arts in PA hosted its annual Arts and Culture Legislative Visits Day at the State Capitol.  Arts advocates scheduled meetings with legislators and delivered to each member the 2014 Arts and Culture Policy Agenda.
 
Harrisburg activities on April 29 complemented similar legislative visits in Harrisburg on Arts Education Advocacy Day on March 18. 
 

Thanks to all who have participated in legislative visits in Harrisburg this spring and in the important ongoing advocacy work with legislative district offices and in local communities!

 
The Arts and Culture Policy Agenda addresses the funding levels of budget items; education; tax credits; the Arts and Culture Caucus; and dedicated funding for arts and culture.  For more information on the Policy Agenda or the annual Legislative Visits Day, see the website of Citizens for the Arts or contact Managing Director Jenny Hershour.

 

The Arts and Culture Policy Agenda items and the broader PA Arts Education Network Policy Agenda  recommendations serve as great talking points to emphasize when you contact the offices of your own State Senator and Representative.

 

State legislators are in their home districts during the current recess for the May 20 Primary.  This is a great time to speak with them directly, in their district office or even at the polls next week, emphasizing your support for the arts and arts education.

 

  
Pennsylvania Arts Education
Network Updates
  
Gubernatorial Candidate Information Resources
REMEMBER TO VOTE.  Primary Election Day in Pennsylvania is on Tuesday, May 20.  Polls are showing that education is the most important issue for voters.  
 
On the ballot will be candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, state senator (in half the districts), state representative, and U.S. House of Representatives.  
 
There are four Democrats competing for the party's gubernatorial nomination: Rob McCord, Katie McGinty, Allyson Schwartz, and Tom Wolf.  Click here to read a Newsworks article about where the four Democratic candidates stand on education-related issues.

Click here for links to the education and arts/culture position pages for all gubernatorial candidates, including those of Republican incumbent Governor Tom Corbett and Libertarian Ken Krawchuk. Corbett will go unchallenged in the primary election due to a recent PA Supreme Court ruling to remove Republican challenger Bob Guzzardi from the ballot on a legal technicality. Krawchuck, representing a third-party, will not be on the primary ballot but will reportedly be making a big push to gather the 16,639 signatures necessary by the August 1 deadline to get his name on the November election ballot.
 
Visit votespa.com for polling place information or other voting needs.

May Harrisburg Briefing Conference Call
The next Harrisburg Briefing call will be on May 15.  The Statewide Pennsylvania Arts Education Network conference calls are held on the Third Thursday of every month at 4 p.m. to update network members and friends on statewide arts and education activities.  Participants on the call also have an opportunity to ask questions, or share news from their communities, schools, or organizations.  The recording is always made available for 30 days for those who are unable to join the live conversation.
 
Details about how to participate in future statewide Network conference calls can be found at www.ArtsEducationPa.org on the first tab under "Resources."

Save the Date: 2014 Arts and Education Symposium
EPLC and the PA Arts Education Network will host a fourth annual Arts and Education Symposium at the State Museum in Harrisburg on Thursday, October 2.  

If you have comments or suggestions for session topics or keynote speakers to consider, please send your thoughts to Laura at abbott@eplc.org.
 
Remember, video recordings of the past three years' keynote speeches and plenary panels, as well as select audio recordings of concurrent sessions, are archived here.

Governor's School Alumni Network 

Those who have experienced the Governor's School for the Arts in the past are the most effective advocates to provide a similar opportunity to students in the future.  To support the advocacy effort to re-establish Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts (PGSA), the Pennsylvania Arts Education Network continues to search for Alumni of the PGSA.  If you, or someone you know, taught at or attended the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts, please complete this form and share with others.  

 

Thanks to the help from former students and faculty, we have been contacted over the past year by nearly 700 Govies!  In his budget proposal, the Governor expressed willingness to invest in three Governor's schools, the arts not being one of them.  With a strong and growing network of advocates, garnering public and legislative support for the reinstatement of the Governor's School for the Arts will be possible. 

 

Click here to find out how PGSA alumni can support PGSA restoration.

 

 
Policy News
 
2014-15 State Budget

The Legislature is now in recess for the Primary Election and will return to Harrisburg on June 2. 

 

State revenues for April were far below estimates, which means there is a $600 million and potentially growing hole to be filled for the current year.  The Governor and legislative leaders now have serious negotiating to do to enact a balanced budget for 2014-2015.  Will lawmakers protect the funding levels proposed by the Governor for the many education- and arts-related line items in the budget?  

 
During this legislative break, it is crucial that arts advocates reach out to legislators in their district offices to urge that the proposed education and arts line item levels be maintained or increased in the final budget.

 

View arts and education summaries from the Education Policy and Leadership Center, and other budget-related links, within the budget box on the left sidebar of this Note.

 

Legislative Activity
  • On May 6, the House of Representatives passed House Bill 2083, sponsored by Rep. Jerry Stern (R-80), which would amend the Tax Reform Code to allow the Department of Community and Economic Development, in any fiscal year, to reissue unused film production tax credits.  According to the House Appropriations Committee's fiscal note, there is currently a total of $22.5 million film production tax credits that meet the criteria of the legislation.  HB 2083 passed by a vote of 180-21 in the House. 
  • On May 6, the Senate State Government Committee unanimously reported as committed Senate Bill 1253, sponsored by Sen. Bob Robbins (R-50), which would amend Title 37 (Historical and Museums) to update and modernize the History Code.  This would, among other things, add definitions; modernize the sale and disposition of abandoned property; designate the State Archives as the official repository for permanent and historically valuable public records; and provide for the opening of records after 75 years unless specified otherwise by law. 
  • On May 7, the Senate State Government Committee held a public hearing on Senate Bill 1070, sponsored by Sen. Pat Browne (R-16), which would create the Pennsylvania Museum Preservation Act.  SB 1070 provides for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission to establish a grant program for eligible museums.  In addition, the bill would establish in the State Treasury a Pennsylvania Museum Preservation Fund, to which the Commonwealth shall transfer 3.1% of funds collected by the realty transfer tax.  Click here to watch a video recording of the hearing.  Written testimony was provided to the Committee by:
A detailed summary of the hearing was featured in PA Museums' May 13 newsletter.
 
Legislative Arts and Culture Caucus
The Arts and Culture Caucus' April field trip to the Lehigh Valley was postponed.  The trip will be rescheduled for a date to be determined.

 
News from the Field
 
Creative Industries Report
A key component of advocacy is knowing what matters to your lawmakers, and framing your message in a way that appeals to them.  For many of our elected officials, the economy and jobs are two very high priorities.  For arts advocates, this means finding the data to show how the arts contribute to the economy and the job market.  

Americans for the Arts
 (AFTA) released in June 2012 its Arts & Economic Prosperity IV study, which reported on the significant impact the arts nonprofit sector has on the economy.  In March 2014, AFTA released another report -- Creative Industries: Business & Employment in the Arts -- which uses Dun & Bradstreet business and employment data to illustrate the scope and importance of both the nonprofit and for-profit arts industries.  These reports can be localized to any state, county, congressional or legislative district in the country.

According to the Creative Industries report for Pennsylvania, the creative industries account for 3.7 percent of the total number of businesses located in the Commonwealth.  As of January 2014, 127,426 people are employed by Pennsylvania's 26,123 arts-related businesses. 

Note: You must log in to view the Creative Industries reports.  If you do not already have a login for the AFTA website, you will be asked to create a
free account and consent to the data licensing terms of use before being granted access to the reports.

ArtScan Policy Database
 
In March, the
Arts Education Partnership (AEP) of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) released the 2014 Edition of ArtScan -- a comprehensive database of state arts education policies from all 50 states.  To supplement ArtScan, AEP also released A Snapshot of State Policies for Arts Education research policy brief.

Since 1999, AEP has tracked state policies for arts education in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.  In 2013, AEP, with the cooperation of the Education Commission of the States (ECS), merged its State Policy Database with the ECS database, ArtScan.  The new structure for the 2014 ArtScan allows users to explore the data in multiple ways, including a state level profile for all policy areas, a comparison of selected states and policy areas, and several types of 50-state reports.

Click here to read Pennsylvania's ArtScan Profile, which provides a snapshot of 14 policy areas, arts education survey information, and state-level education indicators.

NEA Education Leaders Institute Alumni Summit Report
 
Between 2008 and 2012, the NEA brought together through the Education Leaders Institute (ELI) 29 executive-level, cross-sector state teams to collaborate on ways to strengthen states' arts education policies.  This report shares the significant findings of what NEA, its partners, and participating states learned together during the ELI.  The findings also helped shape the new NEA arts education strategic plan, which is included in the report.

NEA Acting Chairman Joan Shigekawa said of the report, "Our goal is that this report will assist both national and state-level policymakers in understanding the catalysts to advance the arts as a core element of education."

On Wednesday, March 14 at 1:30 PM, NEA will host a webinar to bring together representatives from three of the participating states to discuss the report on the ELI Alumni Summit.  Click here to register for the webinar.

 
Announcements
 
2014 National Art Educator of the Year
Congratulations!  In March, the National Art Education Association (NAEA) named Mary Ann Stankiewicz, Penn State professor of art education, as the 2014 National Art Educator of the Year.  The prestigious award recognizes the exemplary contributions, service, and achievements of one NAEA member annually.  

Stankiewicz is internationally recognized for her scholarship in art education history.  She has been published in professional journals and is the author of the book, Roots of Art Education Practice.  Mary Ann was a keynote speaker at the 2011 PA Arts and Education Symposium.  Read more about her accomplishments, here.

The Art Educator of the Year Award is determined through a peer review process, and the recipient is honored at the NAEA National Convention.  This year's convention took place March 29-31 in San Diego, California.  The 2015 convention will be held March 26-28 in New Orleans, Louisiana.  The deadline to submit award nominations for the 2015 Awards Program is October 1, 2014.

SupportMusic Coalition Live from the 2014 NAMM Fly-In
During the week of May 19, members of the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) will gather in Washington, DC to advocate for music education on behalf of the music products industry.  To wrap up the advocacy event, the SupportMusic Coalition will host a live webcast from our nation's Capital on Thursday, May 22 from 11:00 a.m. - noon.

Tune in to listen to updates including: a recap of NAMM members' visits with Members of Congress; report on NAMM advocacy asks; information garnered from policy and advocacy training; and news of NAMM's collaboration with the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities.  Click here to register now and join the meeting live on May 22.

 
Opportunities for Students and Artists
 
Art: The Universal Language Art Contest
The Arc of Pennsylvania is co-sponsoring, along with Governor Corbett and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, an art contest to recognize the talents, skills, and abilities of Pennsylvanians with disabilities.  "Art: The Universal Language Art Contest" is open to any Pennsylvania citizen with a disability.  

A team of judges including Governor Corbett and a panel from The Arc of PA will award winners based on originality, imagination, visual interest, and skillful use of materials.  
Prizes will be awarded in the following media categories and age divisions: pen/pencil, watercolor, acrylic, oil, sculpture, jewelry, photography, textile, and mixed media/other; ages 12 and under, 13 to 17, and 18 and older.

Entries will be accepted through Monday, August 25.  Click here for official guidelines.

 
Opportunities for Arts Educators and Schools
 
Champion Creatively Alive Children Grant Program
Crayola, in partnership with the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), is seeking request proposals for the 2014 Creative Leadership Grants.  The 2014 program will provide up to 20 grants for innovative, creative leadership team building within elementary schools.  Each grant-winning school will receive $2,500 and Crayola products valued at $1,000.

The application process involves forming a collaborative team, and the National Art Education Association encourages their members to partner with their school's principal and colleagues to generate grant proposals.  All proposals must be submitted by a NAESP member.  To receive a "Crayola product Classpack," you must apply by the early bird deadline of June 9.  Applications will be accepted until June 23.

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If you are interested in what is going on in the State Legislature regarding education policy generally, and other education-related news, consider updating your subscription profile via a link provided at the bottom of this AEI Note.  In addition to receiving information about the arts and Pennsylvania Arts Education Network activities, you can choose to receive information about any of the following Education Policy and Leadership Center (EPLC) publications, projects, or programs:

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