$1 Billion for Arts Education — So Why Are California Students Still Waiting?

A STUDENT’S VIEW - California voters made students a promise.

When they overwhelmingly approved Proposition 28 in 2022, they decided arts education should not be a privilege determined by a family’s income, ZIP code, or whether a school has money left after paying for everything else.

Music, theater, dance, and visual arts were supposed to become a meaningful part of public education across California. The state is now investing roughly $1 billion a year toward that promise.

So why are students still waiting?

Some school districts have struggled to spend Proposition 28 money because of uncertainty about the rules. Some have even returned funds rather than risk spending them incorrectly. Questions also remain about whether the money is expanding arts education, as voters intended, or replacing programs schools already funded.

As a young Jewish student in California, I think we are losing sight of the people this money was created to help: students. We should not be casualties of bureaucratic confusion.

Proposition 28 represented something important: California voters saying creativity matters. Its funding was intended to supplement existing arts education, not replace it. If a school already had music or theater, the money should create more opportunities. If a school had little arts education, it should help change that.

Students should be able to see what this historic investment created more teachers, classes, instruments, and opportunities.

Assembly Bill 2440 attempts to give schools clearer rules for implementing Proposition 28. Schools should understand what qualifies as arts education, how resources can be shared, and how to spend the money without fearing that reasonable decisions will create legal problems.

But greater flexibility must come with greater accountability.

Once the rules are clear, California should ask straightforward questions: How many additional arts teachers were hired? How many new classes were created? How many students gained access to music, theater, dance, or visual arts?

Success should be measured not by how much money Sacramento announces, but by how much opportunity reaches students.

Arts education matters because education should be about more than standardized tests. A student can discover confidence on a stage, discipline through an instrument, or a voice through painting, photography, filmmaking, or dance.

For Jewish students and students from immigrant and culturally diverse families, art can mean even more. It connects generations.

Jewish history reminds us how music, literature, theater, and visual expression can preserve memory and identity. Stories survive because someone tells them. Songs survive because another generation sings them. Culture survives because young people have opportunities to experience it and make it their own.

Arts education is not simply about producing the next famous musician, actor or painter. It helps young people become creative, confident, and connected human beings.

California also faces a real challenge: There are not enough qualified arts teachers to meet demand. Colleges and universities need stronger pathways for aspiring arts educators, and districts need to recruit them.

But a teacher shortage cannot become a permanent excuse for inaction.

A billion dollars sitting in an account cannot teach a child to play the violin, direct a school play, lead a choir, or put a paintbrush into the hands of a student who might discover a talent they never knew they had.

Teachers and classrooms turn money into opportunity.

Gov. Gavin Newsom should sign AB 2440 if its final language protects Proposition 28’s fundamental promise: The money must expand arts education, not simply replace what schools already provided.

Then California must follow the money. Every district receiving these funds should be able to show students, parents, and taxpayers what Proposition 28 actually created.

California voters did their part by approving Proposition 28. Taxpayers are doing their part by providing roughly $1 billion every year.

Now government and school districts must do theirs.

My generation should not someday read reports explaining why California’s historic investment in arts education never reached its full potential. We should be able to walk into our schools and experience what that billion dollar promise created.

We should hear it in the music rooms. We should see it on the stages. We should experience it in our classrooms.

California promised its students the arts.

We are ready. Now deliver.

(Shoshannah Kalaydjian is a young Jewish student who writes about education, identity, and the challenges facing the next generation. Growing up in today’s climate, she has witnessed firsthand how rising antisemitism affects young people in classrooms and on college campuses.  She is committed to sharing the perspectives of Jewish youth, amplifying student voices, and encouraging leaders to create safer, more inclusive environments for all students.)