I was concerned and confused as I listened on Monday night to Superintendent Rainwater inform the School Board that the position description posted for the Fine Arts Coordinator was being reposted without a license requirement so that more applicants could be included. The Fine Arts Coordinator oversees the design and implementation of the District's Fine Arts curriculum, and this position has an important community role with the City's varied fine arts organizations.
All other coordinators require a license #10 and so should the Fine Arts Coordinator position. Licenses insure that an applicant has met certain standards and is meant to protect against less qualified applicants being hired.
"The points in the posting indicate a change in the position of a full-time Coordinator of Fine Arts," Dr. Wozniak, retired MMSD Fine Arts Coordinator pointed out in a recent essay. "While educational change is legitimate, a new role for the Coordinator of Fine Arts and reasons for change should not only be well known by the community, but by arts education specialists who should be involved in those changes. This city values education which includes designated arts instruction in its schools and its enhancement by the arts and other resources in the community. We need to remember that teachers, principals, and superintendents are public servants and should fulfill the community's educational goals."
What continues to be lacking in the District's decisionmaking about Fine Arts education is the ongoing lack of an open process that includes professionals in the field and the community so that best choices can be made for children's learning.
Dr. Wozniak notes, "The responsibility of the board of education is to make informed decisions for the education of its children with accountability and commitment to its electorate." This is not possible at MMSD, because decisions about Fine Arts education are being made behind closed doors by a handful of administrators and then announced to the board of education as fact.
Patricia Simms and Phil Brinkman Wisconsin State Journal
January 13, 2005
Gov. Jim Doyle on Wednesday used his State of the State speech to put forward a potent "education agenda" for Wisconsin.
It included:
• Increasing math and science requirements for high school graduation.
• Giving school districts more money for 4-year-old kindergarten and for reducing class size in the early grades.
• Rating child-care providers on quality as he promised last May.
Wisconsin’s arts leaders will come together to show support for greater visibility and increased investment in the arts to benefit Wisconsin's communities and the people of the state, on ARTS DAY 2005, Wednesday, March 2, 2005, at the State Capitol in downtown Madison.
Wisconsin’s arts leaders will come together to show support for greater visibility and increased investment in the arts to benefit Wisconsin's communities and the people of the state, on ARTS DAY 2005, Wednesday, March 2, 2005, at the State Capitol in downtown Madison. Across Wisconsin, the arts, culture, creativity and innovation are becoming recognized as integral to economic development, downtown revitalization, educational advancement, and community engagement. Creative economy guru Richard Florida says, "Better than any other country in recent years, America has developed innovative technologies and ideas that spawn new industries and modernize old ones. These creative industries, employing scientists, artists, designers, engineers, financiers, marketers, and sundry entrepreneurs, have generated more than 20 million U.S. jobs since the 1990s and currently account for fully half of all U.S. wages and salaries." Americans for the Arts (AFTA), the national arts service organization, recently released a study of the nation’s “creative industries”, based on an analysis of data provided by Dun and Bradstreet. Wisconsin boasts over 8,000 “creative industry” businesses, supporting over 43,000 full-time jobs. In addition, a 2002 study conducted by AFTA and the Wisconsin Arts Board found that Wisconsin’s non-profit arts industry generates $289.8 million in economic activity every year. And research from the National Governors Association proves that arts-based education helps build students’ skills, increase academic success, heighten standardized test scores, and lower the incidence of crime among general and at-risk populations. Wisconsin’s creative economy must be nurtured to drive, expand and sustain our state’s economic, educational and civic well-being. Arts advocates from throughout the state will convene at the State Capitol on March 2 to show their strength in numbers, and demonstrate the importance of the state’s investment in the arts and creativity to Governor Doyle, Lt. Governor Lawton, and state legislators. These elected decisionmakers will learn that public and private investment in the arts and arts education reaps tremendous benefits in human, economic, educational, and civic capital. ARTS DAY 2005 will begin with the fifth Legislative Arts Breakfast, 8:30-10 am, and will include: •• poetry reading by Denise Sweet, Wisconsin’s new Poet Laureate •• constituent meetings with legislators •• the latest information on the issues facing the arts in Wisconsin •• new initiatives addressing the impact and importance of the creative economy •• roundtables on current and future trends, policies, and issues for Wisconsin’s arts industry •• Weston, WI’s DC Everest Chamber Choir and Songspinners, performing at noon in the Capitol Rotunda •• Artwork by Wisconsin artists on display in Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton’s office, Room 19 East. ARTS DAY 2005 endorsing sponsors include UW Extension-Division of Outreach and E-Learning Extension, Wisconsin Education Association Council, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, Wisconsin Music Educators Association. Endorsing partners are Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters and Wisconsin Alliance of Artists and Craftspeople. For up to the minute information on ARTS DAY 2005, Arts Wisconsin and the arts across Wisconsin, contact Anne Katz, Executive Director, Arts Wisconsin, 608 255 8316 / akatz@wisconsinarts.org / www.wisconsinarts.org.