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Q&A
Discussion on inequities in school funding for arts education
1:35:34
ยท
157 sec
Paul Thompson, Executive Director of the NYC Public School Arts Office, addresses the systemic inequities in arts education funding across schools. Council Member Dinowitz probes further about the specific situation in The Bronx and the decision-making process for arts education.
- Thompson highlights the inherent inequities in the school system, particularly in funding formulas.
- Dinowitz challenges the explanation, suggesting that screened schools don't account for the vast inequity between The Bronx and other boroughs.
- The discussion touches on principal autonomy in budget decisions and efforts to support schools in implementing arts programs.
Paul Thompson
1:35:34
So again, I think my being here is a representation of the administration's desire to really address the inequities that are inherent in our system.
1:35:47
And it it really can't be not stressed enough that embedded in our system, whether we like it or not, are massive inequities.
1:35:56
And so one of the things that really gets in the way of equitable arts instruction is just looking at the formula for funding for individual schools.
1:36:06
And so audition schools, screened programs, these are programs that get an extra per pupil allocation to execute arts instruction in the ways in which everyone sort of recognizes and I
Eric Dinowitz
1:36:19
hear that.
1:36:20
I just want to pause you because I don't think the audition schools and the screen schools account for the vast inequity between The Bronx and the other boroughs.
1:36:29
Is that fair that those numbers don't add up?
Paul Thompson
1:36:32
Well, this is all I was gonna say is that the rest of the majority of schools are dealing with a funding formula that is very different.
1:36:41
And so depending on where you are, you're just dealing with a different level of funding and access.
1:36:49
And so to answer your question directly, the decisions around how principals use their budgets is is is lives with the principal.
1:36:59
And so one of the things that we do to ensure that we're supporting all schools, whether they're in The Bronx or Brooklyn or up in Washington Heights or out in Bushwick or Brownsville, which again, we are pointing all of our programs in these areas to ensure that we are doing the mindset shift with principals so that they understand how to put the core of the arts in their instructional vision.
1:37:25
And then we also help them to understand how to resource their programs by
Eric Dinowitz
1:37:32
But I mean, I appreciate you telling principals that, but let's be real.
1:37:36
Schools are evaluated based on criteria.
1:37:39
Those criteria include region scores, and I'm talking high schools now, of course, region scores, credit accrual, attendance, other quantitative data.
1:37:49
And then maybe there's like culture.
1:37:52
Like, what's the school culture like?
1:37:54
In any way, are are the evaluation criteria for our schools and our principals being looked at so that they're actually incentivized to incorporate the arts into the curriculum beyond, well, this is a nice thing to do and we encourage you to do it.