I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2485 
To expand arts education, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 31, 2025 
Ms. BONAMICI
(for herself, Mr. BACON, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. LEGER 
FERNANDEZ, Ms. NORTON, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. RANDALL, Ms. 
STANSBURY, and Ms. TLAIB) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Education and Workforce 
A BILL 
To expand arts education, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Arts Education for 
All Act’’. 
TITLE I—EARLY CHILDHOOD 
EDUCATION PROGRAMS 
SEC. 101. EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION PROGRAMS. 
The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act 
of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.) is amended— 
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(1) in section 658G(b)(1), by striking subpara-
graph (A) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(A) offering training, coaching, or profes-
sional development opportunities for child care 
providers that relate to the use of evidence- 
based, developmentally appropriate and age-ap-
propriate strategies to promote the social, emo-
tional, physical, adaptive, communication, and 
cognitive development of children, including key 
programmatic strategies, and offering special-
ized training for child care providers caring for 
those 
populations 
prioritized 
in 
section 
658E(c)(2)(Q), and children with disabilities;’’; 
and 
(2) in section 658P, by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(16) KEY PROGRAMMATIC STRATEGIES.—The 
term ‘key programmatic strategies’ means strategies 
related to— 
‘‘(A) nutrition and physical activity; 
‘‘(B) recommended practices for age-ap-
propriate exposure to screen media; and 
‘‘(C) the integration and utilization of in-
structional methods to assist learning across 
disciplines, including methods that use the arts, 
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language, literacy, mathematics, science, and 
social studies.’’. 
TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO THE 
ELEMENTARY 
AND 
SEC-
ONDARY EDUCATION ACT OF 
1965 
SEC. 201. REFERENCES. 
Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 
this title an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 
of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi-
sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 
section or other provision of the Elementary and Sec-
ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.). 
SEC. 202. STATE AND LOCAL PLANS. 
(a) Section 1111(g) (20 U.S.C. 6311(g)) is amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) USE
OF
ARTS
EDUCATION
TO
IMPROVE 
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.—Each State’s plan shall 
describe how the State educational agency will— 
‘‘(A) support and encourage the offering of 
a variety of arts education experiences to stu-
dents as part of the State educational agency’s 
overall strategy to improve student achievement 
in the subjects described in section 8101(52); 
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‘‘(B) integrate arts education instruction 
into the curriculum; 
‘‘(C) increase the number of arts edu-
cators, including arts education specialists, in 
schools; 
‘‘(D) utilize partnerships with specialized 
teaching artists to train teachers to augment 
creative thinking techniques into the instruction 
provided in math, reading, English language 
arts, science, and other subjects described in 
section 8101(52); 
‘‘(E) ensure that arts instruction provided 
in the State is standards-based, as applicable, 
and sequential with arts courses offered in the 
grades 6 through 12 building upon such courses 
offered in earlier grades; 
‘‘(F) increase the number of classes taught 
by arts educators, including arts education spe-
cialists, with a particular focus on classes with 
high percentages of students who are low-in-
come, students with disabilities, English learn-
ers, or students of color; and 
‘‘(G) support partnerships that increase 
the amount of arts education and creative youth 
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development available in afterschool and sum-
mer learning programs.’’. 
(b) Section 1112(b) (20 U.S.C. 6312(b)) is amend-
ed— 
(1) in paragraph (12), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end; 
(2) by redesignating paragraph (13) as para-
graph (14); and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (12) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(13) how the local educational agency will sup-
port learning in the arts and encourage the use of 
the arts education to improve student achievement 
consistent with section 1111(g)(5); and’’. 
SEC. 203. REPORT CARDS. 
Section 1111(h)(1)(C) (20 U.S.C. 6311(h)(1)(C)) is 
amended— 
(1) by redesignating clause (xiv) as (xv); and 
(2) by inserting after clause (xiii) the following: 
‘‘(xiv) Information on arts courses, in-
cluding— 
‘‘(I) the number of, range, and 
sequence of course offerings; 
‘‘(II) the average pupil-to-teacher 
ratio in such courses; 
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‘‘(III) the average amount of in-
structional time in such courses; and 
‘‘(IV) for each semester, the per-
centage (in the aggregate and disag-
gregated by high-poverty compared to 
low-poverty schools, which for the pur-
pose of this subclause, means schools 
in the top quartile of poverty and the 
bottom quartile of poverty in the 
State) of— 
‘‘(aa) schools offering arts 
courses; 
‘‘(bb) students taking arts 
courses; and 
‘‘(cc) arts courses taught by 
arts teachers with full State cer-
tification or licensure.’’. 
SEC. 204. SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT. 
Section 1111(d)(2)(B) (20 U.S.C. 6311(d)(2)(B)) is 
amended— 
(1) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and in-
serting a semicolon; 
(2) by redesignating clause (v) as clause (vi); 
and 
(3) by inserting after clause (iv) the following: 
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‘‘(v)(I) provides for an evaluation of 
the arts courses offered at such school dur-
ing the school day and the certification, 
training and skills of staff that are teach-
ing such courses including teaching artists; 
and 
‘‘(II) based on such evaluation, incor-
porate the offering of arts courses into the 
offerings of such school; and’’. 
SEC. 205. ARTS FOR NEGLECTED AND DELINQUENT CHIL-
DREN AND YOUTH. 
Section 
1415(a)(2)(B)(ii) 
(20 
U.S.C. 
6435(a)(2)(B)(ii)) is amended by inserting ‘‘access to the 
arts and arts education and’’ after ‘‘improving’’. 
SEC. 206. SUBGRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES. 
(a) LOCAL USES OF FUNDS.—Section 2103(b)(3) 
(20 U.S.C. 6613(b)(3)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (O), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 
and inserting a semicolon; 
(2) by redesignating subparagraph (P) as sub-
paragraph (Q); and 
(3) by inserting after subparagraph (O) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(P) carrying out activities to increase 
pathways to obtain rigorous, high-quality teach-
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er certification or licensure for individuals seek-
ing to become teachers of the arts; and’’. 
(b) 
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
FOR
ARTS 
TEACHERS.—Section 2103 (20 U.S.C. 6613) is further 
amended by inserting at the end the following: 
‘‘(c) PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
FOR
ARTS 
TEACHERS.—In carrying out the programs and activities 
described under subsection (a), a local educational agency 
shall provide professional development for teachers of the 
arts, as appropriate, to fulfill the needs of such agency 
and the schools of such agency. 
‘‘(d) PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR INTEGRA-
TION OF THE ARTS.—In carrying out the programs and 
activities described under subsection (a), a local edu-
cational agency shall provide professional development for 
teachers to integrate the arts into their instruction in 
math, reading, English language arts, science, and other 
subjects described in section 8101(52).’’. 
SEC. 207. 21ST CENTURY COMMUNITY LEARNING CENTERS. 
(a) ARTS ORGANIZATIONS.—Section 4205(a) (20 
U.S.C. 7175(a)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘; and’’; 
(2) in paragraph (14), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(15) partnering with, integrating the services 
of, and utilizing the services and offerings provided 
by arts services organizations or other community- 
focused arts nonprofits and organizations that fur-
ther creative youth development.’’. 
(b) 
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT.—Section 
4203(a)(6) (20 U.S.C. 7173(a)(6)) is amended by insert-
ing ‘‘, including arts education’’ after ‘‘areas’’. 
TITLE 
III—AMENDMENTS 
TO 
THE JUVENILE JUSTICE AND 
DELINQUENCY 
PREVENTION 
ACT OF 1974 AND TO THE OM-
NIBUS CRIME CONTROL AND 
SAFE STREETS ACT OF 1968 
SEC. 301. AMENDMENTS TO THE JUVENILE JUSTICE AND 
DELINQUENCY PREVENTION ACT OF 1974. 
Section 223(a) of the Juvenile Justice and Delin-
quency Prevention Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5633(a)) is 
amended— 
(1) in paragraph (32) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 
end, 
(2) in paragraph (33) by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
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‘‘(34) describe how the State will coordinate 
services, activities for juvenile justice and delin-
quency prevention with State and local agencies and 
organizations, including State and local arts agen-
cies, arts organizations, and organizations that fur-
ther creative youth development.’’. 
SEC. 302. AMENDMENTS TO ADULT AND JUVENILE OF-
FENDER DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS AND 
THE STATE, TRIBAL AND LOCAL REENTRY 
COURTS PROGRAMS. 
The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
1968 is amended in section 2976(b)(4)— 
(1) by striking ‘‘; and’’ in subparagraph (A); 
(2) after subparagraph (A), by inserting the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(B) use arts education programs and 
services to better facilitate reentry and reduce 
recidivism and connect offenders to educational 
opportunities and employment after reentry into 
the community; and’’; and 
(3) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub-
paragraph (C). 
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TITLE IV—AMENDMENTS TO THE 
EDUCATION 
SCIENCES 
RE-
FORM ACT OF 2002 AND THE 
NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF 
EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS AU-
THORIZATION ACT 
SEC. 401. ARTS RESEARCH. 
Section 133 of the Education Sciences Reform Act 
of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9533) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘; and’’ at the end of sub-
paragraph (10)(D); 
(B) by redesignating subparagraph (11) as 
subparagraph (12); and 
(C) by inserting after paragraph (10) the 
following: 
‘‘(11) carry out research on the use of the arts 
and arts education that is rigorous, peer reviewed 
and large scale to determine which methods and 
uses of the arts and arts education are most effec-
tive, cost efficient and able to be applied, duplicated, 
and scaled up for the use in elementary and sec-
ondary classrooms, including in low-performing 
schools; and’’; and 
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(2) in subsection (c)(2), by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(L) Use of the arts and arts education in 
improving elementary and secondary edu-
cation.’’. 
SEC. 402. ARTS STATISTICAL DATA. 
Section 153(a)(1) of the Education Sciences Reform 
Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9543(a)(1)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (N), by striking ‘‘; and’’ 
and inserting a semicolon; 
(2) by redesignating subparagraph (O) as sub-
paragraph (P); and 
(3) by inserting after subparagraph (N), the 
following: 
‘‘(O) access to, the integration of and the 
inclusion of arts education; and’’. 
SEC. 
403. 
NATIONAL 
ASSESSMENT 
OF 
EDUCATIONAL 
PROGRESS. 
Section 303(b) of the National Assessment of Edu-
cational Progress Authorization Act (20 U.S.C. 9622(b)) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(7) ARTS
ASSESSMENT.—The Assessment 
Board shall select the arts as a subject to be as-
sessed under this subsection, at the same frequency 
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and in the same grades (at a minimum) as such as-
sessment was scheduled prior to July 24, 2021.’’. 
Æ 
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