In March, the New York City Department of Education released its first Annual Arts in Schools Report, announcing greater earmarks for art programs and increased student participation across the city.
But as the dust settles, many local public schools have yet to see the benefits.
Most schools face difficulty in meeting state standards. By law, elementary schools must to offer four arts disciplines—music, dance, theater, and visual arts—but only 38 percent of schools currently do so. 
In middle schools, students must complete two art disciplines, a mandate only 29 percent of students are fulfilling.
The city government says that it has made efforts to fix that.
The report stated that, as a result of the newly inaugurated ArtsCount initiative—which aims to raise administrative accountability for arts programs—data from the 2007-2008 school year showed “schools budgeted to increase arts spending by 3 percent, or $9.5 million, including a 2-percent increase in the number of full-time, certified arts teachers.”
The city government acknowledged that challenges remain. “Much of the data are encouraging, but we still have a long way to go,” Joel Klein, the DOE’s Chancellor, stated in press release. He said that with the report, “we will be able to address shortfalls with targeted supports.”
Schools are experiencing a dearth of sufficient funds, forcing even those faring relatively well to find more cost-effective means of infusing arts into their curriculum.
The arts program at M.S. 258 Community Action School on W. 93rd Street has remained steady for 13 years. The curriculum includes an interdisciplinary visual arts program and electives in dance and violin.
While the school has been able to satisfy state obligations, John Curry, its principal, reports a lack of government support.
“I know that there’s more emphasis on the arts citywide right now, but there’s still no additional monies that have come to this school,” he said.
Curry added that “all of our funding comes from state and city funds, and we do need to make choices” for budget allocations.
Some programs have needed to shut down completely.
“Our old arts teacher retired last year,” said Cecilia McCoy, an administrator for P.S. 76 A. Phillip Randolph School on W. 121st Street, and since then the school has lacked a formal program.
P.S. 76 finds itself in a somewhat exceptional situation, as it falls within the 2 percent of schools that feature no
specialized classes at all.
“At the moment,” McCoy said, “the arts program is not the first priority,” though she hopes that it will ultimately resume.
Despite the school’s unusual circumstances, others—even magnet schools—confront similar challenges. P.S. 153 Adam Clayton Powell School, on W. 147th Street, runs a regular arts program and an Arts Intensive Institute. The institute selects pre-kindergarten to third grade students to participate in additional specialized arts study, after which graduates go on to audition for specific high school or performing arts programs, including the Juilliard School.
The institute works to aid students who, according to coordinator De-Adedra Anderson, “may be talented, but don’t know how to pay” for a specialized arts education.
“Most of our money comes from the city and some of it is donations,” Anderson said. “But this year, we don’t have as much as we did last year.”
Among other factors, she said, “there have been a bunch of cuts, and those do affect us.”
“But we’re very creative, so we don’t necessarily need a ton of money to
educate our kids,” Anderson said.
And it is just this “creativity” that has driven others schools to come up with their own schemes.
“The program hasn’t been running,” McCoy said, “but kids still do plenty of art on their own and in regular classes.”
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