Story by Ethan Kwak
Copy Editor
Illustration by Diana Lopez
Staff Illustrator
In November 2022, California got it right when voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 28. Known as the Arts and Music in Schools Funding Guarantee and Accountability Act, Prop 28 provides around $1 billion in additional funding for arts education in California public schools.
These funds are distributed annually, and over half a million dollars ($569,664) are designated for SPUSD.
California is the first state to implement a bill of this nature, which makes Prop 28 a historic legislation. As a result, the terrain is relatively unknown. It is a bill of great importance, yet successful implementation across the state is inconsistent. Some school districts such as San Gabriel (SGUSD) planned new programs as early as 2019, while it took SPUSD almost a year and a half after Prop 28 was passed to present a budget. Thus, informed advocacy is required to ensure that all communities are aware of Prop 28 and the doors it opens for the expansion of arts programs in schools.
The first sentence of Prop 28 states, “The Arts and Music in Schools—Funding Guarantee and Accountability Act is hereby established for the purpose of providing a minimum source of annual funding K–12 public schools, including public charter schools, to supplement arts education programs for pupils attending those schools.”
Holding school districts accountable is crucial. According to Create CA, an arts advocacy organization based in Pasadena, “Students with an arts education are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement, three times more likely to receive a bachelor degree and five times less likely to drop out of school.” Unfortunately, only 11 percent of California schools meet the requirement of providing standards-based arts education.
The proposed 2024–25 SPUSD budget reveals that funding has been pooled between the district’s elementary, middle, and high schools to “secure permanency for itinerant certificated visual arts and music teachers by adjusting the funding source for these positions from a temporary funding source to this Prop 28 restricted permanent resource.”
In other words, SPUSD previously paid itinerant arts teachers through a “temporary” source. Now, Prop 28 funds will replace this temporary source. This exploits a loophole in the wording of the bill, completely brushing past the point of Prop 28, which is to go above and beyond pre-existing arts education. By substituting Prop 28 funding for this previous source, SPUSD is not expanding arts education at all.
Prop 28 explicitly states that annual funding is intended to supplement, not supplant, existing arts education funding. In a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom, Prop 28 writer and former LAUSD superintendent Austin Beutner stated, “The term ‘supplement’ as used in these sections is defined to mean: ‘that the funds appropriated by this chapter shall be used by local educational agencies to increase funding of arts education programs and not to supplant existing funding for those programs.’”
SPUSD must make significant revisions to their proposed budget in order to fulfill the mission of Prop 28. For the social, emotional, and academic benefit of all students, these funds must be used to supplement and not supplant arts education.
According to ArtsEdSearch, a research organization supported by the U.S Department of Education, studies show that the benefits of arts education include “higher attendance rates and lower dropout rates, [an] increase [in] parent and community involvement, and 21st century work skills like creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration.”
Some believe that creative skills are not as valued in the workplace; however, a study conducted by Otis College of Art and Design reports that in California, “the creative economy remains a source of well-paying jobs…The average salary paid to creative workers in 2023, $191,700, was more than twice the economy-wide average.”
Monk Turner, an SPUSD parent who actively advocated for Prop 28 at school board meetings, shared how arts education shaped his own high school experience and eventual music career. As a reluctant student considering dropping out of high school, a chance encounter with the tech theater teacher changed the trajectory of his life.
“I went from hating school to staying after school to run the soundboard…If not for that experience, I don’t know if I would’ve made it through school,” Turner said. “I’m thinking about that kid that’s out there who is hating school right now, but maybe there’s an arts program that is not currently offered that gets offered as a result of Prop 28.”
In May 2024, Turner cited the California State Education Code in a speech to the school board. The code states that all students have the right to a complete arts education, which includes dance instruction. He requested a tangible budget plan for Prop 28, which could potentially fund the salary of an elementary-level dance teacher.
Recently, LAUSD was accused of supplanting their Prop 28 funding, $77 million, in 14 schools throughout the district. A 10-page analysis by Beutner and unions of community parents and teachers reported that funding in nine schools had not changed after the implementation of Prop 28.
The coalition stated, “LA Unified has chosen to violate both the letter and spirit of the law, and students are suffering as a result. Knowingly violating the law is wrong. Beyond that, it’s morally bankrupt for District Leadership to tell some families in effect, ‘Yes, Prop 28 gives us the money to provide your child with an arts education, but we are not going to do so.’”
On the other hand, San Gabriel (SGUSD) is a model example of Prop 28 implementation. In 2019, with community input, SGUSD created a budget plan in anticipation of future arts funding. At the elementary school level, two itinerant visual and media arts teachers were hired, dance and theater teaching artist workshops were increased, speech and debate was expanded, and stipends were given to lead arts teachers.
At the secondary level, SGUSD implemented modern band classes, provided supplementary funds for visual arts, and funded after-school jazz programs. Additionally, SGUSD Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator Samantha Theisen laid out the possibility of a K–12 Media Arts Pathway. Prop 28’s intent is to expand creativity, and South Pasadena’s plan misses the mark.
Prop 28 affects every level of education. If elementary school students are unable to receive the full benefit of arts education guaranteed by the California State Education Code, their academic and artistic potential will be hindered as they move into middle and high school.
There are always areas to supplement the excellent arts instruction within pre-existing programs in SPUSD, just ask the students, teachers, and parents. SPUSD must follow the spirit of Prop 28 and meaningfully expand arts education in our schools.
Tremendous article! Thank you for breaking down the nuances of this proposition so clearly.