Current MENC Government Relations Strategy and Specifics Breakdown
View MENC’s government relations and advocacy agenda. This “living” document details MENC’s plan for achieving policy and legislative goals on behalf of music education, and offers a brief synopsis of our most up-to-date government relations and advocacy action plan. View the newly updated agenda here.
Additionally, reference the collaboratively developed “Strengthen Arts Education in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act: Legislative Recommendations” document for a more specific breakdown of MENC’s joint legislative efforts in conjunction with our arts in education community partners.
Federal News
New Report Highlights FY 2009 Budget Shortfalls in Many States, Indicates Fiscal Crisis May Worsen
In a troubling new report authored by reporters Elizabeth C. McNichol and Iris J. Lav of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, at least twenty-five states, including several of the country’s largest, are projected to face budget shortfalls in fiscal year 2009.
Of the twenty-five total states in immediate jeopardy, specific estimates are available in the report for twenty (which combined, are expected to account for at least $35 billion in FY 09 deficits). An additional three states expect budget problems in fiscal year 2010, although several of these shortfalls may actually occur earlier than previously expected. Many of the other states have not yet released information about their upcoming fiscal status.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report indicates that the vast majority of states cannot simply run a deficit or borrow to cover their budgetary expenditures. As a result, states will have three primary options from which they can choose in order to attempt to bridge the gap during times of fiscal crisis. Plainly put, elected officials will need to either draw down available reserves, cut expenditures, or raise taxes.
While the information provided by this new research does not pertain directly to arts in education cuts, it should serve as a useful early warning indicator for music education advocates in the states projected to incur budget shortfalls in the coming fiscal year. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities maintains that it will continue to monitor state-by-state budget numbers over the months to come, and likewise, MENC will continue to provide our membership with the most up-to-date data and advocacy information available.
To read the full Center on Budget and Policy Priorities budget report and learn more, please click here.
Recent Arts in Education News Clippings:
· Working in a daily dose of the arts (Quoting Michael Blakeslee, MENC Senior Deputy Executive Director)
· New Fordham Report on Leadership and Labor in Education
· Bush’s proposed arts cuts bring outcry
· Instrumental in education
· Statewide school for the arts awaits governor’s signature
No Child Left Behind
Capitol Hill No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Event Refocuses Arts Community’s Commitment to Advocating on Behalf of Reauthorizing Federal Education Legislation
In his final State of the Union address on January 28 of the new year, President Bush reminded Congress of the importance of reauthorizing the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which the President cited, at that time, as an example of strong legislation that is working for America’s children.
In the wake of President Bush’s remarks, the Commission on No Child Left Behind and various other arts in education organizations hosted an event on Capitol Hill entitled “Improving No Child Left Behind Now: The Cost of Waiting,” a panel discussion which featured remarks offered by congressional and Bush administration leaders on the NCLB reauthorization process, as well as those of education community representatives from across the nation. MENC Director of Government Relations Chris Woodside was in attendance at the event.
Featured prominently during the panel discussion was former Georgia Governor Roy Barnes, now co-chair of the Commission on No Child Left Behind (along with former Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, also in attendance), who used his speaking time to urge Congress to reauthorize NCLB as quickly as possible. “Make sure that we implement and renew this law,” Governor Barnes remarked. “This is something that needs to be done this year. Just because we have a presidential election does not mean that we stop the world as it turns.”
In addition to the presence of former governor Barnes, key staffers from the House and Senate education committees and a representative on hand from the U.S. Department of Education also echoed the co-chairman’s sentiment, and reinforced a commitment to making NCLB a priority during this fiscal year. Also, universally expressed during the event was the sentiment that the law’s implementation has resulted in many unforeseen consequences, both positive and negative, that must be examined in detail upon reauthorization.
Other prominent individuals on hand for the panel discussion were Carmel Martin, a member of the majority staff of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Lindsay Hunsicker, a minority staffer on the Senate HELP Committee, Alice Johnson Cain, majority staff for the House Education and Labor Committee, James Bergeron, a minority staff member of the House Education and Labor Committee, and Doug Mesecar of the U.S. Department of Education.
For more information, audio and video from the event, please follow this link.
You Should Know…
… that the registration deadline for Arts Advocacy Day 2008 is fast approaching!
Arts Advocacy Day, the once a year national arts awareness summit hosted by Americans for the Arts, will return for its 21st year on Capitol Hill between March 31-April 1, 2008. This year’s festivities will include a broad cross section of America’s cultural and civic organizations and hundreds of grassroots arts advocates from across the country. The summit will promote the importance of developing strong public policies in support of arts, and will advocate on behalf of increased funding for arts programs.
In addition to these exciting elements, Arts Advocacy Day is an opportunity for music and other arts supporters to learn how to better advocate for their causes, network with peers from all across the country, and visit with members of Congress to discuss key issues.
Registration for Arts Advocacy Day 2008 is now underway. The advance registration deadline is March 17, 2008. Please click here for more information.
Take Action
Advocate Against President Bush’s Proposed Cuts to Arts Funding!
Recently, President Bush sent his FY 2009 budget request to Congress, including yearly appropriations recommendations for the Department of Education's Arts in Education programs, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Office of Museum Services (OMS), and Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
MENC wants you to know that the President has proposed substantial cuts to key arts programs. Specifically, for the eighth consecutive year, President Bush has asked Congress to eliminate funding for the Department of Education's Arts in Education programs which include such staples as model arts programs, teacher professional development and arts programs for at-risk youth. The President has also requested $16.3 million in FY 2009 cuts for the NEA (from $144.7 million to $128.4 million) as well as cuts lowering the NEH budget from $144.7 to $144.3 million.
MENC encourages you to contact your Members of Congress to let them know that you do not condone these cuts. Congress has the power to set its own priorities and challenge President Bush's proposed funding levels, but your help will be needed.
Make your voice heard by writing or calling your congressional representatives and urging them to increase funding for music education and the other arts by restoring designated monies for arts in education programs in the FY 2009 budget. MENC highly recommends that when writing, you add your own personal thoughts and stories about why music education is important to you and to your communities.
Thank you for your continued support of music education!
Congressional Corner
In remembrance of … The Honorable Representative Tom Lantos (D-CA) (1928-2008)
Congressman Thomas Peter Lantos was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1981 and subsequently proceeded to serve California’s 12th district up until the time of his death, just this month, on February 11, 2008. Tom Lantos was the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to Congress and had most recently been serving as the chairman of the powerful U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Congressman Lantos was known as a champion of human rights issues and also served as co-chair on the Congressional Human Rights Caucus during his time in the House.
On January 2, 2008, Lantos announced that he would not be seeking a 15th term in Congress due to esophageal cancer. Prior to his passing, the Congressman was quoted as saying, "It is only in the United States that a penniless survivor of the Holocaust and a fighter in the anti-Nazi underground could have received an education, raised a family, and had the privilege of serving the last three decades of his life as a Member of Congress, I will never be able to express fully my profoundly felt gratitude to this great country."
United States Congressman Thomas Peter Lantos is survived by his wife, Annette Lantos, his two daughters, and his 17 grandchildren.
Congressman Lantos on the value of music education:
“It is vitally important that our schools are a source of quality music education. Education must be more that just readying, writing and arithmetic — it should teach our children about cultural and artistic expression, and provide an outlet for creativity and talent.”