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Three years after the Los Angeles Unified School District named arts as a core subject, students at approximately 100 elementary schools still don’t get any arts instruction. Southern
California Public Radio reports that the district has made efforts to increase funding, hire more teachers, and launch a series of arts festivals. But universal arts education remains
elusive, especially for the district’s poorest students. In 2012, the district’s board approved a measure that bolstered arts funding and deemed it a “core subject.” It was greeted with
significant fanfare. In early 2015, the district released the results of a survey called the “Arts Equity Index” that described where students were and weren’t receiving various kinds of
arts programs. (Check out the L.A. School Report’s reporting on the findings.) Many of the schools with the least arts programming were attended mainly by students living in poverty. The
district redistributed funds and teachers this year to remedy some of the disparities. Southern California Public Radio found that some schools were thrilled about the redistribution of arts
programs and teachers. One middle school had a state-of-the-art auditorium but had never hosted a show. But others felt the changes disrupted long-established programs and would reduce the
rigor and depth of some arts offerings. Meanwhile, district officials still say they have barely a third of what they need to create a full arts plan for all district schools. Improving
equity in arts education is a focus of the National Endowment for the Arts, which marks its 50th anniversary this year. The NEA has found that millions of students don’t have access to arts
programs. But other districts are also taking steps to acknowledge and address the issue: The NEA told _Education Week_ that the school district in Austin, Texas is in the early stages of
conducting a survey similar to Los Angeles’ equity index.