Prop. 28 Passes, Shifting $1 Billion To K-12 Arts And Music Education

CALIFORNIA — Proposition 28, easily passed Tuesday with 63.4 percent support in early returns. That means California's K-12 schools will receive about $1 billion annually in arts and music class funding.

The Associated Press called the race not long after polls closed Tuesday due to the wide margin of support among voters.

Proposition 28 seeks to set aside funding every year for arts and music education annually in California’s K-12 public schools.

Specifically, the measure requires funding at least equal to 1 percent of the total revenue from the 1988 schools funding measure Proposition 98. According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, that would amount to about $800 million to $1 billion in increased spending each fiscal year.

The passage of Prop. 28 will not raise taxes. Rather, it forces the reallocation of the state’s general funds in favor of arts education. Currently, California does not require schools to provide instruction in the arts in elementary and middle schools.

The money will be distributed based on a school district’s share of disadvantaged students. In larger schools, 80 percent of the money would be required to go toward employing arts teachers while the remainder would cover training and materials.

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The measure has also attracted support from prominent artists.

“This ballot measure will help define the promise of the next generation of storytellers by ensuring all California students get the high-quality arts and music education they deserve,” writer and actress of HBO's "Insecure" Issa Rae said. “It will especially benefit students from communities of color, who often experience a lack of access and equity in access to arts and music education.”

There were few prominent individuals or groups in opposition to the measure.

“While arts is important, music less so, students really need to focus on areas that help build them up and prepare them for the real world,” Lydia Hill, a teacher from Southern California told the California Globe. “Only a certain percentage of students go into art, even less so in music. Things like math and science and history, that has broader and more solidified applications for students and can help make their minds up on what they want to do in life.”

The Yes on 28 campaign has raised about $9.4 million and spent about $9 million through September, according to Ballotpedia. There are no opposition campaigns that have filed campaign finance statements with the California Secretary of State.