U.S. Secretary Arne Duncan stopped by a rally yesterday and received petitions from people who want federal lawmakers to provide the money needed for music and the arts to be required core subjects in public schools, according to the Associated Press and ed.gov blog.
Texas, by the way, will soon require middle school students to take one fine arts course, if the Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, signs a bill on Monday that will revamp the state’s school accountability system. Folks at the Texas Coalition for Quality Arts Education are very happy about the arts provision in that bill. Already, the state requires students to take one fine arts credit to graduate. The requirement for middle school students to take a fine arts course will be new.
Flypaper also picked up on a blog entry over at USA Today about the rally. Making music a core subject in reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act is an “interesting proposal,” Amy Fagan at Flypaper says, “though we’re not entirely sure what that would look like.”