Voters Tuesday approved Proposition 28 to provide additional funding for arts and music education in public schools without increasing taxes.
What backers have dubbed “The Arts and Music in Schools — Funding Guarantee Accountability Act” led 63.2%-36.6% with 48.9% of precincts partially reporting, according to figures from the Secretary of State’s Office. The measure did not draw any organized opposition.
“Arts are the glue which brings together literacy, math and critical-thinking skills to help students succeed in school and in life,” said Austin Beutner, the former Los Angeles Unified School District superintendent who wrote the measure. “Prop 28 will make sure every student from pre-school to 12th grade will have the opportunity to participate in arts and music at school.”
Beutner called the passage of Proposition 28 “a big step forward for public education.”
“It’s the first guaranteed increase in funding for California public schools since Prop 98 was passed by voters 34 years ago,” Beutner said. “More broadly, Prop 28 will provide for the largest investment in arts and music in our nation’s history.”
Proposition 28 will annually allocate 1% of the required state and local funding for public schools to additional funding for arts and music education in all kindergarten through 12th grade public schools, including charter schools.
A greater portion of the funds would be allocated to schools serving more economically disadvantaged students. Schools with 500 or more students would be required to spend at least 80% of funding to employ teachers, and the remainder on training, supplies and education partnerships.
Passage of the initiative will result in increased spending for arts education in schools likely in the range of $800 million to $1 billion annually, beginning in the 2023-24 school year, according to an analysis by the Legislative Analyst Gabriel Petek and Keely Martin Bosler, the director of the Department of Finance.
Beutner called Proposition 28 “a passion project for me.”
“My family moved a number of times when I was young, and I attended several different elementary schools,” Beutner told City News Service. “As a shy kid entering a new fifth grade classroom in the middle of a school year, my concern was not reading or math. It was who I was going to have lunch with my first day at school since I didn’t know anyone.
“Fortunately, a teacher invited me to a lunchtime music class. Cello became bass and then guitar. Along with it came a sense of agency and confidence. I could play in front of thousands of people before I could speak in front of tens. But it all started with a group of friends and a sense of belonging that I found in that fifth grade music class.”
Beutner said that during his three years as superintendent, “I visited hundreds of schools and would always ask what I could do to help.”
“Invariably, someone at the school — a teacher, student or family member — would tell me they wished their school had a more complete arts or music program,” Beutner said. “Every student in every school should have the opportunity to participate in arts or music.”
No argument against Proposition 28 was submitted for the Official Voter Information Guide.
Beutner donated $4.2 million to the campaign on behalf of Proposition 28, while the political arm of the California Teachers Association donated $2.5 million and the Fender Musical Instruments Corp. $1.2 million, according to the Secretary of State’s office. Los Angeles Clippers owner Steven Ballmer and actress Monica Horan have donated $1 million each.
Horan is best known for her recurring role of Amy MacDougall on the 1996-2005 CBS comedy “Everybody Loves Raymond,” which her husband Philip Rosenthal created and produced.