TUSD board members: Arts education secured for all students in TUSD

The following is the opinion and analysis of the writers:

This spring, thanks to federal COVID-19 relief funds and the persistent vision of district leadership, the TUSD Governing Board approved over $6 million to increase funding for fine arts and interscholastic equipment and facilities. This ensures that every student in the district will have access to a full-time visual arts and music teacher next school year.

The package also includes funding for new instruments, sports equipment, track and facilities improvements. Every student in grades K-3, for example, will be gifted a recorder to spark an interest in the arts that will no doubt inspire generations of students to come.

We wholeheartedly support this investment, and are proud to have had the opportunity to vote in favor of the proposal. Both of our campaigns centered on reducing the inequities in TUSD’s fine-arts programs throughout the district to ensure that every student in TUSD has access to quality arts and music education. This investment will pay dividends for the next generation of Tucson families, and is the right thing to do.

In fact, we know that exposure to arts and music education during childhood is connected with improved academic achievement across the board. Students highly involved in arts perform better on standardized tests. They have improved reading, language, and mathematics skills.

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Students report increased motivation to learn, a more positive school environment and less boredom in school. These students also are shown to have improved social skills compared to their peers, and are more involved in their community.

As TUSD parents ourselves of a third grader (Sadie’s) and fourth grader (Ravi’s), we’re excited for our daughters and for all of their peers to have access to a cutting-edge art program regardless of ZIP code. Exposure to arts and music should be on the top of every parents’ checklist as they choose the best school for their families, and starting next school year, TUSD parents won’t have to worry if art is available at their child’s school.

Parents around Tucson should know that investing in fine arts is just the start. TUSD is making fundamental investments so that every student is given the tools to succeed academically and grow up to be the emotionally sound adults that we need in our community. These investments include social workers and counselors, literacy and math supports, a new Tucson Unified Virtual Academy (giving parents choosing remote learning an option), and more.

For public education to work well it has to be whole. We are both honored to start to fill in some of those holes that the district has endured over the years through an investment in arts education.