No Hate for Proposition 28 in Midterm Elections

In the school-wide midterm mock elections held on Oct. 12, Peninsula students voted overwhelmingly in favor of Proposition 28 — the initiative to guarantee additional arts and music funding in all K-12 public schools. Unlike English, mathematics, science and social science instruction, which have funding guaranteed by state law, arts and music curricula do not. Proposition 28 changes that, setting aside 1% of state revenue for the visual and performing arts, and its passing on Nov. 28 represents a leap forward for K-12 schools across California.

But what is the catch? There is none. With a nearly $100 billion budget surplus, Californians should not be hesitant about contributing just a miniscule fraction of that toward arts education. In fact, there has not even been an advocacy group that has filed an official opposition statement on the ballot. Yet it is perplexing as to why 223 students — 22.23% of all students that participated — voted against the measure. Proposition 28 should be a measure supported by all Peninsula students, staff and families. 

“I do think that high schools need to emphasize the arts and music more,” senior Harry Zhao said. “Personally, I feel that it is more viewed as a requirement for graduation and people look at it like a chore than really a platform for self expression.” 

At Peninsula where students would take AP Underwater Basket Weaving, people would rather put off pursuing their interests in art and music, opting for more “difficult” coursework instead. What they fail to realize is that art and music offer tough intellectual and physical challenges, demanding a different set of skills to succeed compared to traditional academic courses. 

“Everyone has some form of hobbies,” senior and choir president Charlotte Lew said. “Arts and music education is a great way to explore those aspects of our personalities and develop a good work-life balance early on, before college and beyond.”

Many staff agree with this statement, saying that it enables a different approach than teaching traditional academic subjects. Arts and music give a whole new meaning to in-class engagement, with the work of students taking the spotlight instead of a textbook.

“I think art and music allows schools to teach complex topics, like culture and history, to students at their level,” orchestra and choir Director Daniel Doctor said. “It is much easier to engage them with something that they are passionate about, with something that they love.”

Critics of Proposition 28 may argue that this additional funding should be instead used to support further STEM education. However, the arts and STEM are actually uniquely connected, with each complementing the other. Arts and music programs are not merely a way for students to express themselves — programs that incorporate the arts have been proven to increase creativity, improve academic performance, increase motor skills, enhance visual learning and boost higher decision-making skills (Brookings). Best of all, by utilizing the massive budgetary surplus, Proposition 28 aims to address arts and music along with traditional academic subjects, without sacrificing one for the other.

By far one of the most impactful areas this measure could land in is with lower income communities, who struggle to cover educational expenses of arts and music programs with already strained budgets. By distributing a portion of the additional funding based on an educational agency’s share of disadvantaged students, the initiative takes a swing directly at this issue, requiring schools to allocate 80% of the funding towards hiring teachers and the other 20% going towards training and materials (Ballotpedia). 

Ultimately, although not an entirely comprehensive solution to developing strong, robust arts programs, the passage of Proposition 28 during the official statewide midterm elections is more than just a step in the right direction. With more than 64% of voters voting “Yes,” it appears that the supermajority of Californians see and acknowledge the issue at hand — that public education needs to put a stronger emphasis on multidisciplinary education.