This morning, the US Department of Education (ED) released its final regulation on state plans and accountability for the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The final rule includes the term “arts” along with “music” among the list of well-rounded education activities/strategies (on page 379). As you remember, we had concerns that in this regulation the term “arts” was not listed among while “music” was listed.
While ED did not eliminate the use of the term “music,” they did add the “arts” per our and others’ requests. This provides a level playing field for all arts activities as part of this process.
Congressional Republicans have indicated that they want to eliminate some rules that the Obama Administration is putting out in its final months. Previous press accounts have listed this rule as a possibility for elimination under a process called the Congressional Review Act. Senator Alexander (R-TN), who has been one of the leaders in the discussions of repealing certain regulations, issued a statement this morning that he is reviewing this rule. Regardless of whether this rule is repealed, all of our statutory wins remain. It remains to be seen what possible elimination of this rule will mean.