NAfME News
State Arts Education Guidance
NAfME Policy staff is working to compile all arts education specific state guidance for school reopening in the COVID-19 era. We are particularly interested in language discussing singing and playing of wind instruments. If your state public health or education agency has released such guidance, please send them to me atmattb@nafme.org. Thank you!
National Music Council Thanks Music Educators
Listen to Ava Rowland, John Rich, Rosanne Cash, Paige King, and several other music artists as they share words of thanks for music teachers and how music made a difference in their lives, from NAfME Music Education Policy Roundtable member National Music Council.
States MEAs Can Now Sign the Arts Education is Essential Statement
The Arts Education is Essential statement has been an important part of ongoing advocacy efforts for NAfME and other arts education advocates to ensure continued music and arts education in schools throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 113 national organizations have signed onto this statement, and now your MEA can join us and sign this statement. Send this link to your MEA President and ask them to sign your MEA onto the Arts Education is Essential statement. Thank you to those state MEAs that have already signed-on.
State & National News
States Facing Challenges as COVID-19 Radically Reshapes Higher Education
9/23/2020- ‘When the University of Washington announced it would cancel in-person classes and move to online instruction on March 6, the entire higher education community entered a period of dramatic change, upheaval and uncertainty. The decision came at a time when Washington state had fewer than 1,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, but over the next several weeks cancellations would reverberate through campuses across the country. By the end of March, virtually all postsecondary education had moved online. Classes were held virtually, lectures were delivered over video, and commencements were cancelled, delayed or conducted remotely.’
Census working with colleges for accurate count
9/20/2020- ‘The U.S. Census has faced operational changes for collecting data in the 2020 count.’
COVID testing of teachers, staff hotly debated as California schools reopen
9/18/2020- ‘As schools throughout California tiptoe toward reopening, decisions about whether to routinely test teachers, staff and even students for the COVID-19 virus are proving controversial – and potentially costly.’
FL State Board sets education priorities in budget request
9/23/2020- ‘As school district leaders statewide fret possible revenue cuts, the Florida Board of Education on Wednesday unveiled a legislative budget proposal that would protect current spending levels.’
Research & Analysis
COVID-19 and State Education Budgets: The Story Behind the Numbers
This post is part of the Learning Policy Institute’s Learning in the Time of COVID-19 blog series, which explores evidence-based and equity-focused strategies and investments to address the current crisis and build long-term systems capacity.
Report: Teacher pay still lags peers in other professions by 19.2%
The disparity between teachers’ salaries and those of other industries remains high despite some slight improvement last year. In 2019, teachers made 19.2% less than their nonteaching peers who had similar experience and education, an improvement of 2.8% from the year before when teachers made 22% less, according to research from the Economic Policy Institute.
Fewer Kids, Less Money: How the Pandemic Puts Districts in a Bind
Administrators in Anchorage, Alaska, cranked up the volume on their annual back-to-school campaign a few weeks ago when, after scanning district attendance rolls, they realized they were more than 4,000 students off from their projected enrollment.
Integrating the Arts to Ensure All Students Can Engage in Learning
This guest post comes from Martha McKenna, a university professor at Lesley University, and is written in collaboration with the Arts Education Partnership Higher Education Working Group. AEP is a national coalition of over 100 education, arts, business, culture, government and philanthropy organizations.