The Annenberg arts education initiative: policy in the making. (Annenberg Foundation)

In December 1995 the New York Times announced in a page-one headline, "New York Schools Grant to Revive Arts Teaching," and many parents and teachers of public school youngsters breathed a sigh of relief. At last, the arts-deprived students of the nation's largest school system would get their due: instruction in music, art, dance, and drama; exposure to the cultural centers of the arts capital of the world; opportunity to stretch their creative potential to its limits. Unfortunately, the headline and opening paragraph overstated the case. Although the Annenberg Foundation, ...