Dive Brief:

• The U.S. Department of Education is allocating $13.4 million for improving arts education.  
• The money is being divvied up among 34 organizations tasked with aiding in the growth and development of arts educators and their instruction.  
• Those receiving the money fall within two distinct programs: Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination (AEMDD) and Professional Development for Arts Educators (PDAE).

Dive Insight:

AEMDD grants help schools and art-based non-profits create curriculums and lessons that can be used in elementary and middle schools, while PDAE grants are focused on professional development for arts educators.

As many have stated over the last several years — particularly the "STEAM" crowd, who include the arts among science, tech, engineering, and math knowledge — the arts are too important to forgo. As New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer told the New York Times in April, when he released a report and plan for increasing arts education in NYC schools, “We treat arts classroom space the way we treat janitorial space — it’s just expendable. And it shouldn’t be.”