In Monday’s (8/23) Charlotte Observer (North Carolina), Steven Brown writes, “For years, every fourth- and fifth-grader in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools went on a field trip to Ovens Auditorium to hear the Charlotte Symphony. Not now. Those are just two arts programs that have been dropped as the schools, Mecklenburg County and the Arts & Science Council have been hit by the recession. In the school year that starts Wednesday, there will be $1 million less to expose students to the arts through field trips or through artists sent into schools. The ASC has vowed to turn that around for 2011-12. … The ASC administers the schools’ money for arts-education programs put on by cultural groups – such as the orchestra, Children’s Theatre and Mint Museum – and by individual artists. It adds money from its own campaigns. This school year, it will have $497,000 to spend—down from $1.6 million before the tailspin. … The arts-education programs are just one of CMS’ budget cuts, of course. Teaching jobs in all subjects have been eliminated. CMS has made no across-the-board cuts of arts teachers or arts programs, says Debra Kaclik, a CMS administrator.”
Posted August 23, 2010
