Prop 28 Passed. Now the Real Work Begins
When Fabian Debora was in the 8th grade at Dolores Mission Catholic School, he often drew pictures during class. One morning, a teacher took it upon himself to publicly chastise Debora for not paying attention.
"Why are you making a big deal out of this? We're going to graduate in two weeks, bro,” protested the young Debora.
The teacher grabbed his illustration and tore it in front of the class.
“In that moment, not only did I feel betrayed, I felt very small because the gift of art was not just a gift. It was more than that. It was my refuge,” said Debora, whose childhood in East Los Angeles in the 1980s was filled with gang violence, abuse, and drugs. Art was a way for him to escape reality.
Enraged, the young Debora stood up and hurled his desk at the teacher.
“I should have never thrown a desk at the teacher,” said Debora, “but not once did the teacher get held accountable for ripping my artwork.”
Debora was immediately marched across the street to Dolores Mission Church, where he was introduced to Father Greg Boyle, founder of Homeboy Industries, a program intended to assist at-risk youth, former gang members, and previously incarcerated individuals.
Although it took many years and just as many stumbles, Debora is now the Executive Director of Homeboy Art Academy, the nonprofit’s art education component.
Debora shared these formative experiences on stage as the keynote speaker at "Arts and Music for All: A New Era in Creative Workforce Prep" on Thursday, Oct. 12, at UCLA Luskin Conference Center.
Former Chair of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors Zev Yaroslavsky moderates a higher education panel at the Oct. 12 conference. (Michael Bowden / School Gig)
Many esteemed speakers and panelists were in attendance to discuss California Proposition 28 — the largest investment in arts and music in our nation’s history.
Overwhelmingly passed in November 2022, Proposition 28 increases funding for arts and music education — typically the first to be cut during financial setbacks — in California’s K-12 public schools by redirecting a portion of existing state tax revenues towards the Creative Education Fund.
Eighty percent of the fund is allocated to hiring staff, as many as 15 thousand arts educators to serve California’s six million K-12 students. What this means is, schools needed to start hiring yesterday.
“This is about urgency,” said Austin Beutner, former L.A. Unified School District Superintendent and author of Proposition 28. “If we can’t rise to the occasion, we’ll still have empty classrooms. We can’t accept that.”
To maximize the efficacy of the funding, panelists discussed the hiring roadblocks and even some of the stigma surrounding arts education.
“When I started my career, there was a common and sadly negative idea about majoring in the arts and also being interested in teaching. I don't see that stigma anymore with our students,” said Kevin Kane, director of UCLA’s Visual and Performing Arts Education (VAPAE) Program.
VAPAE is situated in the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture and provides undergraduates with the option to minor in arts education. Its mission is to prepare the next generation of culturally equitable arts educators, bringing inclusive arts education to Los Angeles schools and communities.
Director of UCLA’s Visual and Performing Arts Education (VAPAE) Program Kevin Kane, center, speaks on the higher education panel. (Michael Bowden / School Gig)
Since its founding in 2010, VAPAE’s courses and community arts programs have impacted over 30,000 community members in the Los Angeles area. Among them are UCLA undergraduates, K-12 students, classroom teachers, families, and partner organizations whose collaboration has been key to VAPAE’s growth during this time.
Each year, VAPAE’s undergraduate student teachers provide arts instruction for about 600 local K-12 students. To date, over 200 emerging teaching artists have graduated with a VAPAE minor to pursue a range of creative careers.
“Our current generation of students are deeply committed to their arts practice, but they’re equally committed to their social practice and community engagement. They don’t necessarily think of these practices and skills as separate,” continued Kane.
Students have a desire to become arts educators; however, with the money problem solved, a major challenge has presented itself: California needs more traditional pathways and non-traditional pathways to becoming an arts educator.
Many ideas were proposed such as 4+1 models where students can earn both a bachelor's and master's degree in five years rather than six. But for some students, this is still an impediment. Working artists want to be in the classroom now, not years from now.
Another solution is the Career Technical Education (CTE) Teaching Certificate, which authorizes the holder to teach based primarily on professional experience. But this also presents a problem.
“I think pedagogy and teacher training classes are crucial because someone can be a talented, experienced professional artist, but also need some teaching skills,” said Kane. “For instance, how to design an effective lesson plan. Or what can a teaching artist expect to accomplish in 50 minutes?”
The only clear solution that emerged from a day full of bold, innovative ideas was that collaboration will be key moving forward. Or, as Marcia Sidney-Reed, adjunct professor at CSU Dominguez Hills School of Education, put it, “It’s all hands on deck.”
There’s a lot of work ahead, the kind of work that requires the creative thinking that Proposition 28 hopes to inspire.
By Sean Arenas
Header image: Interim Dean of UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television Brian Kite; School of Arts at CSUSM Professor Merryl Goldberg; Director of UCLA’s Visual and Performing Arts Education (VAPAE) Program Kevin Kane; and CSU Dominguez Hills School of Education Adjunct Professor Marcia Sidney-Reed speaks on the higher education panel. (Michael Bowden / School Gig)
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