“The anemic California polling numbers for this past primary election (12 percent of the population voted) don’t bode well for the fall, but there is a long-sought arts initiative on the Nov. 8 ballot,” said author Michael Zwiebach for Classical Voice. “The California Art and Music K-12 Education Funding Initiative has qualified for the general election; as the name states, it’s meant to bolster school arts programs.”
“The initiative would require the state to find a source of revenue to fund K-12 arts education equal, at a minimum, to one percent of the total state and local revenues that local education agencies receive from Proposition 98 funding.” Led by the Californians for Arts and Music Education in Public Schools, it is a direct response to, “the insecurity of arts programs, which are often among the first things to be cut or curtailed when a school district experiences budget difficulties or shortfalls.”