As teachers and students are just settling in to the school year routine, there are major discussions around education policy, funding and budget priorities on the local and state level. These next few months are critical – so stay tuned in, get involved, and consider a few of these steps for making your voice heard.
2020-2021 Budget Priorities Baltimore City Public Schools
Wednesday, October 16 at 5:30PM
District Headquarters 200 E. North Ave, 1st Floor Board Room
The Baltimore City Public School Board of Commissioners will hold a forum to discuss the 2021-2022 Budget Priorities. Sign up for Public Comment should open between 4:30 and 5pm at the North Avenue entrance. For more information please visit the District’s website.
Maryland’s Education Funding is CHANGING
Kirwan Commission Countdown – Make Your Voice HEARD!
The Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education (chaired by Dr. William ‘Brit’ Kirwan) has been working since 2016 on a plan to radically improve Maryland’s public education system. You can read more fast facts about the Commission here, and you can read official Commission documents, including the Interim Report here. Arts Every Day stands with our statewide advocacy partner, Arts Education in Maryland Schools Alliance (AEMS) in urging the Commission to not overlook equitable access to arts education across the state.
While we support the work of the Commission, we want to make sure that the Commission’s panel knows just how important arts education experiences are to cultivating the whole child. We need your help to let them know!
AEMS urges the commission to:
Include language in its foundation (base) funding formula that specifies funding for arts education in Maryland’s public schools and
explicitly list “music and the arts” in all places where core subjects are enumerated.
How can you get involved?
Send a message to the members of the Kirwan Commission, stating your support for AEMS’s position to support the arts in this important education reform. Click here to generate a prepopulated email through your email system for you to sign and send.
Attend Baltimore City’s local Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Kirwan Community Forum, and ask if and how arts education is included in the report! Find the full schedule of Community Forums here.
Attend the final workgroup meetings in Annapolis! Find the schedule of the remaining workgroup meetings here.
Share information about the Kirwan Commission from AEMS’s Kirwan Page, where you can read AEMS’s letter to the Commission.
Time is of the essence, so get involved today to make sure that Maryland’s children get the arts education they deserve in their schools!
Sincerely,
Julia Di Bussolo
Executive Director, Arts Every Day
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