The data from the 2015 National Center for Educational Statistics report The Condition of Education had this to say about the changing demographics of students: From 2002 to 2012, the number of white students in public elementary and secondary schools decreased from 28.6 million to 25.4 million, and their share of enrollment decreased from 59 to 51 percent; Hispanic student enrollment increased from 8.6 million to 12.1 million students, and their share of enrollment increased from 18 to 24 percent; and the number of African-American students enrolled decreased from 8.3 million to 7.8 million, and their share of enrollment decreased from 17 to 16 percent.

The NCES report suggested that these trends will continue, with white student enrollment declining to 46 percent by 2024 and Hispanic students rising to nearly 30 percent. African-American enrollment is expected to remain relatively unchanged. What the data does not take into account is how the recent influx of immigrants from Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa and other parts of the world have also begun to impact the student populations and will continue to do so in the coming years.  

At the recent state policy symposium, States of Change , Dr. Monique Chism, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Programs in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education, said, “Education is the civil rights issue of our time.” Certainly that is as true for arts education as it is for any other subject area. The NCES data, while not surprising, is sobering in what it does and does not tell us and should serve as a reminder that efforts to improve arts education access and equity need to embrace students with language, culture and religious traditions that are not currently being addresses in the artistic pedagogy of most school and community arts education programs. Further, there is a growing recognition that the needs of disabled students and those with varying sexual orientations are also not being met.

We all know that a sizable number of minority and recent immigrant students are enrolled in high poverty schools where the arts are often seen as a luxury and not regarded as a key component to success. Certainly there are pockets of success, such as the Department of Education’s Model Dissemination Grants Program in which the arts have been used to re-engineer school curricula and classrooms to improve student outcomes, and research from the President’s Commission on the Arts and Humanities’ Turnaround Arts initiative offers additional strong evidence that such intervention is a game changer for academic improvement and commitment to learning. But for the most part, students in high poverty schools continue to have the lowest access to arts education, despite the strong research that confirms its value.

One more twist to the arts equity and access conundrum: The recent passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) that re-empowers states to decide how and what education is delivered in their schools to students provides both opportunity and risk for arts education, despite the fact that federal dollars are less than 10 percent of school funding. Given the relatively modest dollar amounts dedicated to arts education in most districts, even a modest budget change can make the difference in whether an arts program survives or is cut. In those states where there is a strong foundation of support,  arts education is likely to continue to thrive and perhaps communities will strengthen the quality of their programs and improve access to a broader demographic of students. But in those states and districts that are committed to different priorities—anything from improving graduation rates to STEM—arts education may face cutbacks or elimination. Those schools tend to be high poverty institutions with substantial numbers of immigrant and minority populations. So the risk of a further demarcation by class and privilege regarding art education is a very real and discouraging possibility.

So, what are the actionables we can apply to the changing face of arts education, as suggested by the NCES data and the other less clear trends in our student population? There are more strategies than I can list in a single blog and besides, there are other writers in this series who will undoubtedly have insight and ideas.

But there is one thing I would like to address. We usually begin our “what to do” strategies for improving arts education access and equity by updating three long-held rationale points: 1) arts education ought to be part of the well-rounded education of every student because ESSA, our new federal law, has listed music and the arts as such; 2) the arts are the best representation of our humanity; and 3) they teach valuable 21^st century college and career skills. These are still valid points. But they’re not enough to change things.

Here’s one modest thought that I’d like to put forth, given the times we live in. There is one more “c” that the arts teach, along with college and career readiness. It’s citizenship. More particularly, citizenship within a democratic society. If we are indeed seeking to expand inclusion and create better access to quality arts education for our new melting pot of students, what is the end goal if it isn’t to prepare a next generation of citizens—whether leaders, thinkers, artists, or any other career path—to make informed decisions about the society that they and their children must live in?

I want to use my own arts discipline, theatre, as a way to clarify the arts education equal citizenship equation. Theatre is about telling stories. To communicate those stories requires actors who assume roles and become someone else. When actors—whether seasoned professional portraying Hamlet or first-grader as Jack of Beanstalk fame—steps into a character they are immersing themselves in a different time, place and situation that is not their own. For a student, it is the opportunity to imagine and reflect on other points of view, to consider what it means to be another human being, and to measure one’s own belief system against whatever the context of a given scene. In other words, it is a moment of empathy, the understanding and responding to the feelings of others.  

I would argue that the nurturing of empathy is key to creating responsible and successful citizens in a democratic society. Let me say out front that theatre does not own empathy in education—other arts and other subject areas can nurture students to consider multiple points of view. But there is something special about being somebody else for a while, especially in a safe and supportive environment that allows for reflection, dialogue, and collaboration.

At the 2014 Educational Theatre Association Conference, keynote speaker Jonathan Katz, the former National Association of State Arts Agencies executive director, said, “The experience of ‘walking in somebody else’s shoes’ teaches essential skills for anyone living in a democratic society where different points of view are encouraged.” And at the 2015 EdTA conference, Tony award winning theatre educator Cory Mitchell spoke passionately about empathy’s ability to transcend divisive issues in a school environment: “Sometimes it’s not about diversity, but about making people understand that we all have stories that are more universal than race and gender.”

To put a more in-the-moment point on the value of empathy in teaching good citizenship for all students, in our recent history has there been a more pressing need for an informed electorate to have a civil discourse about our political path? Given the current tenor of political theatre that some of our national leadership are currently engaged in, perhaps a monologue by Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar or Lady Macbeth, would prompt useful reflection for students, followed by a turn as Joan of Arc and Richard III.

These are challenging times for all of education and it is the political process that will shape how we educate our students for generations to come. Maybe a few minutes in “somebody else’s shoes” would do us all some good and help to reset the discussion about not only the value of the arts in the well-rounded education of all students, but to make it clear that who we are and what we believe is changing and if we are going to survive as a democracy, everyone needs equal access to the quality education that we are so strongly advocating for—including arts education. All the great data in the world will not teach our children civility, kindness, and respect for their fellow citizen, here and in the rest of world. Empathy will. Think about it.

Jim is a member of Americans for the Arts. Learn more.