Hope Glimmers in Arts-Teaching Gloom : Resources: Hard times have dried up much support, but some corporations and foundations are still funding programs.

In an era of diminishing resources in arts education, experts look to the future with little optimism, particularly because money today tends to be tight in both the public and private sectors.

But there is some hope for arts educators.

Despite fears that economic conditions across the country might dry up grants, some corporations and foundations are looking for projects to fund to display community support.

ARCO, for example, recently helped the Mt. Miguel High School band participate in a music festival in Barcelona, Spain.

Though nobody ever complains about such support, paying for one-shot trips falls far short of bolstering day-to-day programs, which require grants and steady funding.

But it takes time and energy, not to mention specific skills, to write grant proposals.

Ann Heidt, fine-arts coordinator for the San Diego County Office of Education, who primarily stages events and workshops for students and teachers, says she has been instructed to spend her time offering programs, not writing grants. Her bosses say working on grants would take too much time away from the focus of her job, even though she would be able to do far more if she had more money.

In general, teachers and school administrators often don’t have the time or knowledge of specific programs to pursue grant money.

Within the state funding bureaucracy, there are pockets of money for special purposes. An example: the Specialized Secondary Program Grant, a $2-million project that each year helps launch programs across the state. Since the program was started in 1983, the money has been used to help start arts schools in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Orange counties.

However, dance or music teachers applying for the grants must compete with math and science proposals. The arts are given equal weight, but the review panel considers such factors as the ability of the program to receive outside sponsors, according to Margaret Gaston, a consultant to the program.

“It seems to me that business and industry have supported the implementation of science and math, and even humanities programs because it makes good sense to have a ready pool of mathematicians and scientists and economists,” she said. “But visual and performing arts have a tougher row to hoe. They don’t have a company like Levi Strauss interested in employing a troupe of dancers.”

Another problem in relying on private funds for arts programs is the fact that many foundations and corporations are unwilling to guarantee ongoing support. The Maxwell H. Gluck Foundation, for example, gave $1.5 million for the artists-in-the-schools program known as Young at Art. The program was designed to last three years, after which Gluck said she expected someone else to pick up the ball. Now, with the program having essentially ended last June, Gluck has agreed to give the San Diego Unified School District an additional $50,000 for the 1991-92 school year, but only on the condition that the schools raise matching funds.

Likewise, the Getty Center for Education in the Arts, which has targeted select school districts to train teachers in experimental five-year programs in discipline-based arts education, plans to withdraw support for those programs after the initial funding period ends, expecting the programs to become self-supporting.

“My personal opinion is that (art education) is the public sector’s responsibility,” said Vicki Rosenberg, program officer of the Getty Center for Education in the Arts. I think the arts are a critical component of education for a number of reasons, for developing creativity, for developing creative solutions to problems.

“If we’re going to be an enlightened culture, we have to teach the arts.”

At a few schools throughout the county, including ones in Point Loma and Solana Beach, parents have been asked to pay $30 to $50 annually toward art classes and supplies that once were provided automatically by the system. In many instances, parents have been either unable or unwilling to give the money.

If the overall downward trend in arts education is not reversed, says Martin Chambers, chairman of the San Diego State University Music Department, we will “see a lot of frustrated, burnt out people, especially frustrated teachers.”

“But at this point, I still see the community not knowing what it’s missing. And that is the tragedy,” Chambers said.

Chambers says that despite the funding crises, he has seen an increase in jobs for new music teachers, as well as an increase in students entering the field.

“Up until about two years ago, we were having four or five music education students each year, which means we had overall about 15 students pursuing a public school music teaching career. Other music students might have considered music education, but they saw no jobs available and a frustrating atmosphere in the public schools. Then two years ago, the entry music education class jumped from five to 15. That enrollment increased when the San Diego district began hiring prep-time music teachers and there were some retirements of music specialists.

“At first, I thought it was just a blip, but the incoming music education students kept coming, and we now have about 60 instead of 20 in the program,” Chambers said.

“We’ve placed every single one of our music education graduates in the last two or three years. This is not just because of our efforts and the quality of the program. I see the demand for public school music teachers growing.”

Creating a foundation through elementary education is the greatest hope for the future of arts in the schools, Chambers said.

“When you have a strong elementary music program, when the students feed into the junior high schools, that will pressure the junior highs to provide appropriate music programs for them. Parents will demand that the music students be allowed to continue on.

“For example, for the first time in recent years, La Jolla High will have a music program as a result of pressure from students--and their parents--coming up from junior highs with good music programs,” Chambers said.

San Diego County arts writers Nancy Churnin, Kenneth Herman and Leah Ollman contributed to this report.