LANSING-Michigan is one of seven states that doesn't mandate public schools to teach the arts, but under the new proposed statewide high school education requirements, students might have to take one year of fine arts to graduate.

The proposal is encouraging and gives the impression that arts are critical s in the complete education of a child, said Ana Cardona, the arts consultant for the Michigan Department of Education.

Arts education is important because it provides such basics, as colors, shape, observation, listening and oral presentation skills, that allow students to navigate the world in which they live, Cardona said.

It's also important for K-12 curriculum because arts cultivate the skills necessary for problem solving, said Julia Tomaro, a council member of the Michigan Art Education Association.

"Creating art engages students' thinking in ways that other academic subjects may not," said Tomaro, who is the visual arts curriculum coordinator at Anderson Middle School in Berkley.  "Because there is a visual product created, this thinking activates both mind and body."

The Education Department currently offers voluntary art curriculum standards that provide benchmarks for dance, music, theater and visual arts at the elementary, middle and high school levels.

Although districts are not required to include arts courses, most are aware of the standards and align their curriculum to it, Cardona said.

According to a 2001 survey, 87 percent of Michigan public school districts provided instruction in music and visual arts.

For example, the Troy district offers fine arts in all of its schools, said Hedy Blatt, the district's fine arts director. 

Music and arts are taught to all students in K-5 and arts become electives in grades 6-8, she said.  At the high school level, two credits of fine arts, practical arts or foreign language are required for graduation.

Arts education is reccommended by the No Child Left Behind Act as a part of a core curriculum, and schools receive credit toward their "Education YES!" grade for complying, Tomaro said.

But arts assessment is not mandated, and the federal law requires that students be tested in reading, math and science and improve those scores by 2014 or risk funding loss.

Because the emphasis is on the tested subjects, schools may be marginalizing and eliminating arts instruction, a recent report from the National Association of State Boards of Education warns.

While national studies indicate testing requirements may have a negative impact on arts and social sciences, Michigan has no specific data on the subject, Cardona said.

When it comes to funding problems, the arts are often the first programs cut in some districts, said Troy's Blatt, who is also the part-time fine arts consultant for the Oakland Intermediate School District.

"Unfortunately the arts in some districts are considered to be on the block when budget reductions are necessary," she said.

But there is optimism among the consultants about the proposed new graduation requirements and the future of arts education in Michigan.

"A quality fine arts program is essential for all students," Blatt said.  "In this day of No Child Left Behind and an emphasis on testing and lack of funding, districts must sometimes make decisions based on financial or academic concerns.

"That said, the arts community is working very hard to help the state bring awareness of the importance of arts education.  In doing so, we must educate not only the students, but the parents, the school boards, the legislators and the community at large."