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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Arden Armbruster, Lead Budget and Policy Analyst at New York City Independent Budget Office
2:27:38
ยท
3 min
Arden Armbruster from the New York City Independent Budget Office presented findings on the distribution of Cultural Development Fund (CDF) programs and licensed arts teachers across NYC public schools. The analysis revealed disparities in access to arts education resources among different boroughs.
- Manhattan schools had the highest rates of both CDF programs and licensed arts teachers, while Queens schools had high rates of arts teachers but the lowest rates of CDF programs.
- Staten Island and Bronx schools were found to have the highest rates of schools with neither a CDF program nor a licensed arts teacher.
- Manhattan-based CDF grantees provided the majority of programs citywide, often partnering with schools outside of Manhattan.
Arden Armbruster
2:27:38
Good afternoon Chair Joseph, Chair Rivera, and members of the committees on education and cultural affairs, libraries and international intergroup relations.
2:27:47
My name is Arden Armbruster, and I'm a lead budget and policy analyst at the New York City Independent Budget Office, IBO.
2:27:54
We are an independent, non partisan city agency that conducts fiscal and policy research for the city.
2:28:01
Thank you for the invitation to testify today.
2:28:03
I will be speaking about IBO's analysis of school based programs funded through the Cultural Development Fund, CDF, a competitive grant program administered by the Department of Cultural Affairs, DCLA.
2:28:14
I'll be sharing just a few findings from IBO's recent research, but our written testimony includes additional details.
2:28:20
We also conducted an analysis by school district, which will be available on our website.
2:28:25
IBO looked at CDF funded programs and arts teacher staffing at traditional public schools, using data from the fiscal year twenty twenty two CDF grant cycle, and the twenty twenty one-twenty twenty two school year.
2:28:38
Our research showed that around three quarters of schools citywide received a CDF program, and a similar share of schools had at least one licensed arts teacher.
2:28:47
Just over half of schools had both a CDF program and a licensed arts teacher, but these programs and teachers were not evenly distributed across boroughs.
2:28:57
Compared with schools in other boroughs, Manhattan schools were more likely to have at least one licensed arts teacher, and on average they had the highest share of teachers who were arts teachers.
2:29:07
Ninety percent of Manhattan schools received a CDF program.
2:29:12
In Queens, schools were about as likely to have an arts teacher on staff as Manhattan schools, but they were the least likely of all of the boroughs to host a CDF program.
2:29:21
Only about half of schools received a program in FY twenty two.
2:29:25
Staten Island schools were the second least likely to receive a CDF program, and they had the fewest arts teachers as a percentage of all teachers.
2:29:34
Nearly one in 10 schools in Staten Island and in The Bronx had neither a licensed arts teacher nor a CDF program.
2:29:42
Otherwise, Bronx and Brooklyn schools were fairly similar in our research, with The Bronx having a slightly larger share of schools with a CDF program than Brooklyn, and Brooklyn schools more likely to have an arts teacher than schools in The Bronx.
2:29:54
Manhattan based CDF grantees provided the vast majority of CDF programs in schools, about four out of five programs.
2:30:02
However, they were more likely to partner with schools outside of Manhattan than within the borough.
2:30:07
CDF grantees from other boroughs typically worked in schools in their borough, particularly organizations from The Bronx and Staten Island.
2:30:14
The data IBO used for this research have some limitations.
2:30:18
In a small number of instances, programs that appeared to be school based were excluded because they could not be definitively matched to a known school address.
2:30:26
Additionally, the CDF data don't quantify depth of engagement, as Chair Rivera mentioned earlier, such as the number or length of visits.
2:30:33
The data do not include the timing of visits, so some of these programs may be after school.
2:30:38
Accordingly, the intention of this analysis is not to equate CDF funded programs to instruction by a licensed teacher.
2:30:44
Rather, our hope is that this can shed light on the distribution of services to help plan and coordinate the many programs through which the city provides access to arts education.
2:30:53
Thank you again for the opportunity to testify, and I'm happy to answer any questions.