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The New York City Public Advocate’s Office released a report showing a majority of Queens schools are in violation of state arts education requirements.

State regulations require all children in grades first through third to receive instruction in four arts disciplines: visual arts, music, dance and theater. In addition, state guidelines call for arts instruction to comprise 20 percent of weekly instructional time for children in first through third grade and 10 percent of weekly instructional time for children in grades four through six.

Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum’s report, titled, “Out of Tune: A Survey on NYC Students’ Access to Arts Education,” revealed only five percent of Queens elementary schools and 33 percent of middle schools surveyed offered instruction in all four disciplines. The citywide results tell a slightly different story, with 7 percent of elementary schools and 27 percent of middle schools offering the four disciplines.

“In the cultural capital of the world, we are failing to provide New York City’s children with classroom instruction in music, visual arts, dance, and theater,” Gotbaum said.

But this cultural capital has lacked arts education offerings for nearly four decades. The fiscal crisis of the mid-70s, which led to the firing of 14,000 teachers, dealt the first major blow to arts education. The Giuliani Administration’s initiative, Project ARTS, created in 1998, attempted to fill the gap by providing school principals with a set amount of funding that could only be used for instructional services in art, music, dance and theater; equipment, materials, supplies and partnerships with various arts and cultural institutions.

Then, at the start of the 2007 school year, DOE announced that principals would have increased control of their school budgets and would no longer be tied to Project ARTS. The Public Advocate’s survey, conducted in January 2008, therefore highlights the consequences of terminating dedicated funding.

“It is still too early to judge the full impact of the elimination of Project ARTS,” the report reads in part. “Many advocates are concerned, however, that budget cuts, particularly recent mid-year cuts due to the fiscal downturn, in combination with increased pressure to achieve gains on standardized tests in reading and math, create an environment in which principals will be motivated to spend funds previously dedicated to arts programs on other priorities.”

Currently the Progress Report only gives a single grade, 85 percent of which is based on standardized tests. However, DOE claims that a new initiative called ArtsCount, launched in July 2007, demonstrates its commitment to eventually including arts education as a factor when determining a school’s Progress Report grade. In addition, the DOE has stated that compliance with arts education regulations will soon factor into principal’s performance evaluations and bonus eligibility.

The Public Advocate’s office gathered data by posing as prospective parents. Surveyors most commonly reached a school counselor, parent coordinator or school secretary.

DOE has rejected the survey’s methodology as flawed.

“Unlike an interested parent, the Public Advocate didn’t attempt to determine if the person on the phone was best qualified to provide answers, didn’t ask to be directed to or sent additional information, and asked only a few narrowly scripted questions that neglect many of the ways students receive arts instruction.” DOE spokesman David Cantor said.

The DOE said a significant portion of arts instruction occurs during homeroom class periods and as part of an integrated curriculum and was therefore overlooked by the Public Advocate’s study, but was more accurately portrayed in its own “Annual Arts in the Schools Report,” the hallmark of the ArtsCount initiative.

“As if giving our students an outlet for creative thinking, emotional development and increased self-esteem isn’t reason enough to meet state requirements, a study of the arts leads to advanced problem solving skills,” Gotbaum said. “There’s also a correlation between arts instruction and high graduation rates and improved academic achievement.”

As a result of the survey, Gotbaum has made several recommendations including hiring more full-time certified arts teachers and creating a more balanced school Progress Report. For more infofmation, call (212) 669-7200 or visit www.pubadvocate.nyc.gov.