An April report revealed serious disparities in arts education resources by district wealth level (screenshot via Office of the Comptroller)
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña announced on Tuesday their plan to put $23 million toward hiring 120 new arts teachers and boosting arts resources in public schools across the city. The plan uses additional money from this year’s budget to guarantee the growth of arts programs in 2015.
The announcement at the Bronx Museum of the Arts came after City Comptroller Scott Stringer released a report finding that 28 percent of city schools fail to employ even one full-time arts teacher.
Fariña, who’s long been an advocate for arts education, sees the plan to bolster the arts at under-served middle and high schools as important to academic development. “The arts in many, many ways, particularly in middle school, make kids come to school,” she told the assembled press on Tuesday.
