Prop 28: CA’s K-12 Art and Music Education Initiative Explained

CALIFORNIA — Proposition 28 seeks to set aside funding every year for arts and music education annually in California’s K-12 public schools.

Specifically, the measure would require funding at least equal to 1 percent of the total revenue from the 1988 schools funding measure Proposition 98. According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, that would amount to about $800 million to $1 billion in increased spending each fiscal year.

The measure would not raise taxes. Rather, it would force the reallocation of the state’s general funds in favor of arts education. Currently, California does not require schools to provide instruction in the arts in elementary and middle schools.

The money would be distributed based on a school district’s share of disadvantaged students. In larger schools, 80 percent of the money would be required to go toward employing arts teachers while the remainder would cover training and materials.

The measure has the support of the California Teacher’s Association, Universal Music Group, the California Dance Education Association, and the Los Angeles Unified School District. Supporters argue that California’s schools have suffered for years with shoestring arts budgets.

“Only 1 in 5 public schools in California has a dedicated teacher for traditional arts programs like music, dance, theater and art, or newer forms of creative expression like computer graphics, animation, coding, costume design and filmmaking,” former Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner and former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a joint statement on CalMatters. “This initiative is timely as our country seeks to create a more just and equitable future for all children. A boost in arts and music education will help ensure the future workforce in media and technology properly reflect the diversity of the children in our public schools.”

The measure has also attracted support from prominent artists.

“This ballot measure will help define the promise of the next generation of storytellers by ensuring all California students get the high-quality arts and music education they deserve,” writer and actress of HBO's "Insecure" Issa Rae said. “It will especially benefit students from communities of color, who often experience a lack of access and equity in access to arts and music education.”

There are few prominent individuals or groups in opposition to the measure.

“While arts is important, music less so, students really need to focus on areas that help build them up and prepare them for the real world,” Lydia Hill, a teacher from Southern California told the California Globe. “Only a certain percentage of students go into art, even less so in music. Things like math and science and history, that has broader and more solidified applications for students and can help make their minds up on what they want to do in life.”

The Yes on 28 campaign has raised about $9.4 million and spent about $9 million through September, according to Ballotpedia. There are no opposition campaigns that have filed campaign finance statements with the California Secretary of State.