A new toolkit, recently released by WestEd and Create CA, will help local education agencies (LEAs) strategically invest new funding in arts education in schools.

Passed in November 2022, Proposition 28: The Arts and Music in Schools (AMS) Funding Guarantee and Accountability Act ushered in a historic opportunity for schools and districts to invest in arts education. California public schools will receive approximately $938 million in the first year, the 2023-24 school year, to support arts programs.

The new Prop 28: Arts and Music in Schools (AMS) Planning Toolkit was designed to help California LEAs build or further develop a comprehensive arts program in dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual arts in every school and grade level.

The toolkit includes

  • templates to aid with Prop 28 AMS funding, including a template for gathering community input on how to spend Prop 28 funds;
  • financial planning documents, including a school site expenditure plan to support planning for the use of Prop 28 AMS funds;
  • an FAQ section addressing common questions about Prop 28;
  • LEA program profiles to help schools generate ideas for expanding access to arts education with Prop 28 AMS funding; and
  • additional resources.

 

“Arts programming is a crucial component of education,” said Sharon Herpin, Senior Project Director at WestEd. “It helps students express themselves and teaches discipline in an entirely different way than other academic subjects. It also helps schools pay more attention to the needs, skills, and interests of the whole student.”

The Toolkit was made possible with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and was codeveloped by WestEd, Create CA, the California County Superintendents Arts Initiative, the Association of California School Administrators, the California Latino School Board Association, and the Small School Districts Association.

In addition to this work, in January 2024, WestEd was awarded a $75,000 grant by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to support research with Create CA on how California school districts are expanding equitable access to arts education through Prop 28 AMS funding.

The grant is part of a pool of $32M of arts funding to organizations nationwide.

“We are thankful to the NEA for this grant, which will allow us to identify and share best practices for using Prop 28 AMS funds to ensure all students have access to arts education,” said Herpin.

Access the toolkit today. For questions about the toolkit, please email Sharon Herpin at sherpin@wested.org.

Disclaimer: The documents in the Prop 28 AMS Planning Toolkit are for planning purposes only. They are not official compliance documents. None of the content should be construed as legal advice or interpretation of the education code requirements for Prop 28 AMS. Schools and LEAs are encouraged to use these items in a manner best suited for their unique situation.