Title: Arts for All Students Act

Summary: Creates "Arts for All Students Act"; requires DOE to publish "Arts for All Students" annual report; provides components of fine arts curriculum; requires criteria & formula for granting "Arts for All Students" model school & model school district designations; provides for annual award of designations.

Full Text:
WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that access to a quality public education is a constitutional imperative, and WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes that equal student access to a quality arts education is part of what it means to have a quality public education system, and WHEREAS, studies have proven that access to a quality arts curriculum can lead to improved student achievem ent and academic success, and WHEREAS, data provided by these studies should serve as an incentive for resource allocations made by school or school district leaders, and WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that recognizing schools that are providing equal st udent access to a quality arts education is important to the continued success of those programs and can serve to inspire greater investment in arts HB 1239 2013 education curricula, NOW, THEREFORE, Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Section 1003.499, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 1003.499 Fine arts education.-(1) This section may be cited as the "Arts for All Students Act." (2) The Department of Education shall annually publish and make available to parents, scho ol district leaders, and school administrators an "Arts for All Students" annual report for each K-12 public school. The report shall include data-set metrics and institutional metrics comparing student achievement, learning gains, and graduation rates of students participating in a fine arts education curriculum with students who do not participate in such curriculum. An analysis of students participating in English for Speakers of Other Languages programs, exceptional student education programs, and free or reduced-price meal programs should be included in the report. (3) A fine arts curriculum includes visual arts, music, dance, and theatre courses. (4)(a) The department shall establish an "Arts for All Students" advisory committee composed of experts in the field of fine arts education. The advisory committee shall use specified data sets to develop criteria and a formula for granting K54 public schools and school districts an "Arts for All Students" model school designation or "Arts for All Students " model school HB 1239 2013 district designation. (b) The department shall use the criteria and formula recommendations of the advisory committee to annually award "Arts for All Students" model school designations and "Arts for All Students" model school district des ignations to eligible schools and school districts. (5) Data used by the advisory committee and the department for awarding the model school and model school district designations must include, but not be limited to: (a) Fine arts course offerings by grade level. (b) Number of students enrolled in fine arts courses. (c) Number of students enrolled in more than one fine arts course or discipline per academic year. (d) Number of hours dedicated to fine arts education by arts discipline. (e) Certification level of teachers providing fine arts education in specified areas. (f) Professional development offerings for teachers in each fine arts discipline. (g) Professional development offerings for non-fine arts teachers in the integratio nof fine arts in the school curriculum. (h) Number of designed, equipped, and dedicated classroom spaces for fine arts instruction. (6) The department shall include the data specified in subsection (5) in the "Arts for All Students" annual report. Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2013.