OPINION: Brooklyn needs the arts back in public schools
Our city is getting a failing grade when it comes to Arts Education. My office just released a first-of-its-kind report, “State of the Arts,” which shows that after years of crippling cuts in Brooklyn and other communities, 20 percent of our middle and high schools across New York City do not have a single, full-time certified arts teacher. I have a plan to help get us back on track, but we must first know how we got to where we are today.
Arts Education can—and should—play a hugely important role in the lives of our children. A healthy exposure to the arts in school deepens students’ understanding of the world around them, and gives them the creative skills they’ll need to compete in the 21st century marketplace. This is especially important in New York City, the cultural capital of the world.