By Karen D'Souza, Photo: Alison Yin/EdSource Today, EdSource, June 9, 2022
California has long been famous for its creativity, the engine driving everything from the entertainment industry to the tech sector. But decades of budget cuts and a laser focus on core subjects have pushed the state’s public schools to cut arts education to the bone over the years.
Now, two years of trauma during a pandemic that’s stolen more than a million lives and the fresh horrors of a spate of mass shootings, experts say, underscore the pressing need for more paths to social-emotional learning in schools. That’s a key reason former Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner, supported by many educators and artists, is championing a mandate to restore arts and music education to the public schools, as a way to help children grapple with their feelings about growing up in a time of tragedy.
“Talk to any social worker, the first thing they do with a child in trauma is ask them to draw a picture,” said Beutner, who stepped down after three years at LAUSD. “The arts are a key part of the therapeutic process.”
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