Jason Harmon · CMSD & Art Education

August 14th, 2008

MaryBeth Matthews writes:

[T]he average supply budget for art teachers in the Cleveland Municipal School District is $300 for the school year. Most high school teachers have five or six art classes totaling 150-170 students. Let’s do the math kids…That comes to approximately $1.76-$2.00 per student to spend on art supplies for a school year that lasts 36 weeks. And how much do you think $2.00 buys in today’s economy? At the dollar store I can buy a pack of 20 pencils and two pink erasers.

Unlike suburban schools, we cannot charge parents a materials fee, in fact, we are not even supposed to ask students to bring in their own supplies…

The district claims to support the arts, but it seems to me those claims are mostly lip service. I wish that they would finally put some money where their mouth is.
How about this idea? Hire one less consultant and double the money for art supplies. Eliminate an administrator, and triple the art supply budget. Then maybe our students could have an arts experience comparable to the kids in the suburbs.

Category: Art, Cleveland, education

6 Responses to “CMSD & Art Education”

  1. Jack Ricchiuto Says:
    August 15th, 2008 at 6:07 am

    How about keeping one of the consultants and task them with scavengering hoards of art supplies. They can start with enlisting 100 of their closest cooler-than-thou linked-in friends. And together they can raid their grandmother’s attics found objects of all sorts that can fuel more art projects that you can imagine.

    That would be a small act worth more than the consultant’s time may be worth!

  2. Ed Morrison Says:
    August 15th, 2008 at 4:57 pm

    Over on Innovating Networks — a new national network we’ve launched with people working on the integration of education, economic development and workforce development — there’s a good summary of why we should care about art education:
    http://snurl.com/3gbxj

    Also, spend some time wioth the Ken Robinson video on TED:
    http://snurl.com/3gbya

  3. Russ Bonchu Says:
    August 17th, 2008 at 6:40 am

    That’s a great idea Jason, but here’s another one: WHY DON’T WE PASS A LEVY ONCE IN A WHILE!! If memory serves me correctly, the last time a levy was passed for Cleveland Public Schools was about 7 years ago. And the only reason WHY it passed was the state provided a matching $500 million, and about 1 month before the election the roof of one of the high school gyms collapsed! Since then we have had at least 2 levy bills, neither of which have passed. folks, you get what you pay for. If you don’t pay for education, why would you expect one?

  4. Mark W. "Some Guy on Bridge" Schumann Says:
    August 17th, 2008 at 7:16 am

    Before that happens, Russ, there will have to be some auditing and investigations to determine what happened to that $500 million investment.

    Successful prosecution of those responsible for the results would indicate “accountability” more than any promise or mission statement.

    It’s the Corruption Tax all over again.

  5. Sharon Says:
    August 17th, 2008 at 11:15 am

    7 years since the last levy - Good Lord! There’s a key reason for the problems ailing Cleveland indigenous populations. I know this has been said before, but can’t help saying it again… They ought to scrap the levy system - focus on amalgamation (why is there a city of Shaker Heights? Independence? etc.) and allocate an appropriate percentage of commercial and residential property taxes to public schools. Public schools are where our kids spend most of their days! Why is it acceptable to let Cleveland’s kids attend these schools?

  6. Mark W. "Some Guy on Bridge" Schumann Says:
    August 17th, 2008 at 3:18 pm

    Sharon, the big “Issue 1″ bond effort in 2001 was supposed to be the absolute, final, last chance for accountable spending. Promoters swore on their pinkies that everything was on the up and up. They gave us a Bond Accountability Commission.

    And then they ripped off the taxpayers and the kids. Again.

    What matters is not what you vote for, it’s not what you pay, it’s what resources finally make their way to the classrooms. We have to clean up the spending side of the process first, or any new levies will be largely wasted too. And by “clean up” I mean investigate and prosecute the crooks.

    If only there were some county official whose job it was to investigate and prosecute corruption! Wouldn’t that be cool?