Doesn't the California Legislature watch 'Glee'?

The California Legislature is moving ahead on a foolish bill that says students who attend career and technical education high schools have to take all subjects regularly required for graduation -- with the notable exception of arts instruction.

The legislation is supposedly designed to boost California's high school graduation rates. It would allow students to replace the current requirement for a course in visual or performing arts or foreign language with one in career technical education.

CTE, which used to be known as vocational training, is a good thing. Dumping the high school requirement for visual or performing arts or foreign language is not.

Assemblyman Warren Furutani (D-Gardena) tried to get a similar plan through the Legislature last year. His new bill, AB 2446, recently passed the Assembly's education committee. The change would commence with the 2011-12 school year.

Over at Dewey21C, the often useful arts education blog, Richard Kessler, executive director of the Center for Arts Education in New York, describes the plan as "completely backwards to a 21st century career and technical education." The whole post is worth a look.

Whether avoiding arts education creates a surer path to a high school diploma and the workforce is a dubious proposition, at best. But whether CTE students deserve a full education is a no-brainer.

The California Alliance for Arts Education urges opposition. They are correct.

-- Christopher Knight

Photo: California state Capitol. Credit: Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times

Follow Times art critic Christopher Knight at KnightLAT on Twitter.

Comments

[Donald Frazell]

PLEASE! Glee is a complete and total no brainer. Well, the crazy woman from 40 year old virgin is great, but not in it enough, the rest? OMG This is what our educational system does WITH arts ed? God help us.

Back to the Laker game. Now THATS intense. Go OKC! Russell was on my kids team, forget that narcissist Kobe, bet he dabbles in conceptual art as well as rape on the side. Or else my wifes collection of Bones and Supernatural, now thats funny, and in their own unnatural ways, right on the money. Sociopaths and stupid children abound. And are dissed for it. Wonder when they will get to an arts show, like a Art School Confidential with vampires. The current crop of teenage vamps are pathetic. Again, god help us, and just cancel Glee. at least our politicians aren't THAT stupid. Just jerks

Truly, art collegia delenda est. Try learning world history. Thats the key subject that has been trashed. We just might stop making the same damn stupid mistakes over and over. Well, can always hope. And that art will be meaningful again. The people Are waiting. And bored of the effette Wendys and Peter Pans of the insular and inbred art "world".

Save the Watts Towers, tear down the childcare centers known as Art academies.

Art is good for hormone crazed adolescents to get a grip, but useless on adults unless you learn a real skill in the applied arts. True creative artists are lone wolves, and will always find a way, and make their own. Alone.

[socialworker]

Community & Social Services is a growing field. As knowledge and understanding of Community & Social Workers rises, so does the demand for skilled professionals in this career. Community Service Workers are employed in many areas including social services.

[Artist]

I am a 55 yo Artist who went thru the Calif school system. I last took an Art class in 4th grade and did not take another Art class until my sophmore year in college. And yet here I am. I have a feeling that if I had taken Art in school I would have turned out different. Maybe I would have followed in Physics like my parents wanted me to.

[Colette]

Art, CTE and foreign languages are all valuable. Students have limited choices and Warren T. Furutani is to be commended for giving students, their parents and counselors the ability to determine which of these three best meets their life goals.

[John Chocholak]

AB2446 allows high school students to make a CHOICE between the Arts, language or CTE courses being offered as a graduation requirement. It DOES NOT eliminate any of the Arts or Language courses currently offered in a high school. It ADDS CTE courses to the choice list of courses offered as part of a high school requirement for graduation.

I support Art and Language choices for a high school graduation requirement. I think it is great that students will be able to also choose a CTE class to meet a graduation requirement.

My Major was Music in college, my minor was CTE, I have a degree in both. I taught BOTH Music and CTE in the public school system for 36 years until my retirement. Both areas of education are wonderful and useful to students.

John Chocholak
Send me an email!
john.chocholak@usa.net

[Sibyl O'Malley]

There is copious research to demonstrate that arts education contributes to higher test scores across all subjects and reduces truancy and dropout rates.
It helps develop skills critical to success in the twenty-first century workforce, like the ability to innovate, communicate and collaborate. It also fosters the development of social skills, problem-solving and an greater awareness of and connection to in their community

In the coming years, one in five jobs in California will be in the creative industries. AB 2446 would set in motion a shift in priorities that would likely lead to fewer students being qualified for jobs in California’s creative industries.

[Donald Frazell]

There are far too many art grads as is, few can find jobs. we dont need more art schools, but do as ways for our hormonally challenged youth to discover themselves, and find purpose til they can grow up. Art for kids IS self expression, but they rarely find a skill. Art for adults is understanding the world we live in one another, and finding balance in purpose. But our kids have terrible health from lack of exercise, artists more than most. Know little of our past, and so condemned to repeat past selfish errors. We need one thing and one thing only.

To grow the hell up. we need to accept that things cost, and either pay for them, or do without. No more maxing out the state and national credit card, the bill just came due. That wild destroy far more lives than can "saved" through art. Poverty and bad health kills. Either raise taxes to pay for this, and so art groups need to take it to the voters, or make due, as humanity has for thousands of years. A few art classes are good for kids, finding a job essential. There are no jobs in the art industry, there are hundreds applying for each job as is, always have been, except difficult computer jobs, all highly skilled jobs. So my job is pretty safe.

art collegia delenda est

[Debbie]

Thank you for all of these articles. Even though the Legislature doesn't seem to care what we want (unless we vote 'em out!), other teachers and I can keep the parents of students advised of the idiocy their legislatures are going to create with this issue. I post many on my FaceBook, and parents thank me, and promise to write to their congressmen! Again...Kudos to you, and many thanks from a Theatre Arts teacher who has had MANY students stay in school because of the program...and then go into the service, or become auto mechanics or plumbers, or go to college -- and all of them are so glad they were able to experience the program and feel it enriched their lives. I have Airmen quoting Shakespeare to me on my FaceBook!

[Darren Willis]

It kills me that one day, a long time ago in California, some committee decided that the skills and knowledge require to smear paint on a canvas were equal to the skills and knowledge to apply and solve the quadratic formula...but the skills and knowledge required to rip a transmission apart, troubleshoot a problem with it, and reassemble it was a different, LOWER, dirty kind of knowledge.
California is moving in the direction of Career Technical Education. I would recommend we spend time and effort figuring out how you (ARTS) can fit into this paradigm instead of focusing on defeating legislation in order to limit student’s access to vocational training.