Large Donation Will Benefit Arts Programs in LAUSD Schools

The Los Angeles Fund for Public Education, founded in 2011, partners with the Los Angeles Unified School District in developing results-oriented programs.

Its most-recent donation is devoted to increasing student access to the arts and supporting LAUSD art classroom teachers. It adds to the LA Fund's ArtsMatter campaign that to date has focused on advocacy and fundraising.

The effort is directly linked to the new LAUSD 5-year arts plan "Arts at the Core," as well as the new Common Core Curriculum, in which teachers must integrate the arts in all subject areas.

The joint plan will focus on creating arts integration pilot programs implemented by arts organizations with a track record of success in LAUSD schools.

The Music Center is the program's first grant recipient. Other organizations receiving funds will be announced over the next school year. Each of the partner groups will obtain a grant of $150,000 over three years.

"From these pilots, the LA Fund and LAUSD will learn how best to support and train teachers to integrate the arts so that we have creativity in every classroom," LA Fund chief Megan Chernin said "Arts integration fuels creative thinking, and research shows that students are more fully engaged in learning when the arts are used as teaching tools. Underperforming students particularly benefit from an integrated curriculum."