Lively hoots and hollers accompanied the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) panel introduction when Lynn Tuttle, Director of Arts Education with the Arizona Department of Education, led 120+ national arts education professionals in a 20-minute overview of everything you ever wanted to know about NCLB and the arts.

She offered “NCLB BINGO” as the framework for sharing the plain-language facts about this legislation and the controversies that surround it. The dubious prizes included tomes on navigating titled programs, and other stimulating education legislation.

The panel did eventually get down to more serious business with Heather Noonan, Vice President for Advocacy with the League of American Symphony Orchestras; Richard Victor, Advocacy Chair for the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association; and Paul D. Houston , Executive Director of the American Association of School Administrators.

These folks delivered valuable information to remind us that the focus on NCLB can push us away from our real work. They urged us to sustain a sense of humor, flexibility, and to follow a few key ideas:

1. Maintain supportive friendships with broader education reform advocates. The arts art NOT alone.
2. Repeat the major messages everywhere: the arts prepare students for school, work, and life; they strengthen the regular learning environment; and they can retain teachers who love to teach.
3. Take a deep breath and stay patient, the education reform dialogue will not be resolved overnight.
4. Keep your relationships with local school leaders, legislators, parents, and citizens. Their votes and passion will demonstrate the need for national change.

Many of our friends in the State Arts Advocacy Network noted that the arts education message can be confusing because it is hard to imagine anyone saying no to the needs of our children, but that it is also hard for voters to see how the arts will specifically meet those needs.

Paul Houston had this room laughing out loud when he reminded us to get over the confusion and keep our eyes on the prize. He quoted Harry Potter & Dumbledore on talent and destiny, compared evolution to recycling, and closed with the mantra of artistic discipline that we can use when confidence wanes as we navigate bureaucracies: “If you fail enough, you will get better.”

We left the room with copies of “Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things” a video that is offered here by the Farmers Insurance Group that includes my favorite education in the arts factoid: John Lennon was kicked out of school for asking too many questions!