Public funding of programs by independent arts organizations should not take the place of arts education at school, according to Irene Lanzinger, president of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation. On July 22, the provincial government announced a $167,000 grant to Arts Umbrella for an ongoing outreach program that delivers visual and performing arts workshops of up to 10 days to vulnerable children and youth in a variety of locations throughout the province. The grant was the second installment of a $500,000 commitment over three years from the Ministry of Children and Family Development to the Arts Umbrella project.

“It’s great that the government is choosing to fund those arts organizations. We don’t take issue with that,” Lanzinger told the Straight. “One of the dangers is that…we should never see those outside organizations as replacing the wide variety of options we should give children in schools.”

According to Lanzinger, public education is “very underfunded”, with elective classes such as arts and music being the first to go when school districts find themselves strapped for cash. In addition, said Lanzinger: “The new graduation requirements [introduced in 2003] have fewer requirements for electives. That means that fewer kids take art courses, and we have been hearing that from our elective teachers. And it’s too bad, because a good public education system should…put a high value on those things.”

Tom Christensen, minister of children and family development and former minister of education, insisted in a phone interview that arts education in public schools is in good shape. “The vast majority of school boards are pretty committed to providing various arts, including music, programs to students,” he said. “What this funding’s intended to do is not replace that in any way, but to complement it.”

Lanzinger insisted that the best way to deliver resources to children at risk is through the public school system. “If you want to address those children who have significant needs over and above the needs of other children, the public education system is the best place to do that, because that’s where all children go, by and large,” she said. “Whatever program you provide through some outside organization, generally speaking, some adult has to register them in that program, has to take them there.…But if you really want to make sure that every child has a good broad-based education and that children have exposure to the arts and are instilled with the love of the arts and get a good arts education, you should be funding the public education system to do that.”