Oversight Hearing on Arts Education. Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational Education of the Committee on Education and Labor. House of Representatives, Ninety-Eighth Congress, Second Session (February 28, 1984).

Overview & Synopsis

This congressional hearing contains testimony supporting the need to strengthen the priority given to arts education in elementary and secondary education. The hearings convened with a panel of witnesses representing the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Committee on Arts for the Handicapped (NCAH), and the Music Educators National Conference (MENC). The first witness, chairman of the NEA, presented statistics representing the current state of arts education and documented support for arts education by discussing supporting statements of the presidential commission in "A Nation At Risk," the College Board in "Academic Preparation for College," and the Carnegie Foundation in "High School: A Report on Secondary Education in America." The second witness, Laureen Summers (NCAH), gave a personal testimony to the value of art education in her life as a cerebral palsy victim. The third witness, from MENC, then reported on the status of music education, listed suggestions for those interested in the arts, and presented supporting statements from "The Paideia Proposal" and from reports by the Carnegie Foundation and John Goodlad. Prepared statements, letters, and supplemental materials in favor of arts education were also presented by congressional representatives from Vermont, New York, Wisconsin, and Illinois; a consultant in the arts and education; and representatives from NCAH, the National Art Education Association, the Children's Art Carnival, the Louisville Orchestra, the Alliance for Art Education, and the Lexington Philharmonic. (LH)