After a season of budget cuts, a new wave of visual and performing arts teachers began at the La Mesa Spring Valley School District this fall.
Two pieces of legislation have acted as oppositional forces changing the landscape within the district this year. While Proposition 98 drove budget cuts, Proposition 28 increased funding for art teachers.
The state’s education budget was cut by over $8 billion for the 2024-2025 school year, according to the California Budget and Policy Center. this school year, the state’s education budget was cut by over 8 billion dollars. However, in late 2022, lawmakers passed Prop. 28, which requires the state to spend at least 1 percent of its education fund on art and music education.
In addition to regular state funding, this has given school districts a total of $800 million to $1 billion dollars of restricted funds specific to delivering quality visual and performing arts instruction to students.
For decades, the La Mesa-Spring Valley Unified School District has not been able to provide its elementary schools with credentialed visual and performing arts teachers, much like the rest of California.
“Most schools have been having their classroom teachers incorporate the arts as a part of their instruction,” said Christian Tordahl, visual and performing arts director for LMSVSD.
However, Tordahl says incorporating arts into other subject matters is not enough.
“The arts are very specific disciplines that require years of study and skill to be proficient in, like math and science,” he said. “We need specialists who have learned skills and the pedagogy of teaching those artistic skills.”
The district’s Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) department has been preparing to introduce music and visual arts to all elementary schools since 2023, before Prop. 28 funds were available.
“We were able to spend the whole year planning the elementary arts program and we were able to increase the middle school arts program,” Tordahl said.
After months of preparing for music and art programs at all 17 of the district’s elementary schools, art educators will visit classrooms on a rotating basis. Each student will receive 12 visits throughout the school year for both visual arts and music education. The visits will entail a VAPA music and visual arts teacher pushing a cart of supplies into classrooms to teach a 40-50 minute lesson.
“Students will be provided with sequential, standards-based lessons by our credentialed teachers,” Tordahl said.
Wendi Cross was the Teacher On Special Assignment (TOSA) for VAPA in 2023. She worked with Tordahl in preparation of launching VAPA to the school sites, focusing on scope and sequence for the upcoming year.
Her goal was to develop “lessons that were not solely based on making art, but also on connecting students’ real world experiences to what they are being taught (in class) and teaching a variety of (art) mediums while aligning with the standards,”
Cross explained that last year she “piloted lessons at two schools within the district to gauge their effectiveness and viability” before solidifying the curriculum map. The map includes age-appropriate literature, social-emotional learning connections, asking essential questions, and extension lessons for classroom teachers.
The goal was to have a consistent VAPA curriculum that all art teachers could use across the district, regardless of what school they are teaching at. Cross said the art lessons are structured to “create opportunities for students to share their unique perspective on the world through their artmaking.” Cross has since transitioned to a full time visual arts teacher in LMSVSD.
Educators say they are excited about the increased educational value this program will bring.
“It’s my hope that we ignite that spark of creativity in every student that we serve,” Tordahl said.