H.R. 2485

119th CONGRESS 1st Session

To expand arts education, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES · March 31, 2025 · Sponsor: Ms. Bonamici · Committee: Committee on Education and Workforce

H.R. 2485

SEC. 1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the Arts Education for All Act.

TITLE I—Early Childhood Education Programs

Sec. 101. Early childhood education programs

The Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 () is amended— 42 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.
- offering training, coaching, or professional development opportunities for child care providers that relate to the use of evidence-based, developmentally appropriate and age-appropriate strategies to promote the social, emotional, physical, adaptive, communication, and cognitive development of children, including key programmatic strategies, and offering specialized training for child care providers caring for those populations prioritized in section 658E(c)(2)(Q), and children with disabilities;
- in section 658G(b)(1), by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting the following:
- in section 658P, by adding at the end the following:
  - (16) Key programmatic strategies
    - The term key programmatic strategies means strategies related to—
      - nutrition and physical activity;
      - recommended practices for age-appropriate exposure to screen media; and
      - the integration and utilization of instructional methods to assist learning across disciplines, including methods that use the arts, language, literacy, mathematics, science, and social studies.

TITLE II—Amendments to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

Sec. 201. References

Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this title an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or other provision of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (). 20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.

Sec. 202. State and local plans

Section 1111(g) () is amended by adding at the end the following: 20 U.S.C. 6311(g)
- (5) Use of arts education to improve student achievement
  - Each State’s plan shall describe how the State educational agency will—
    - support and encourage the offering of a variety of arts education experiences to students as part of the State educational agency’s overall strategy to improve student achievement in the subjects described in section 8101(52);
    - integrate arts education instruction into the curriculum;
    - increase the number of arts educators, including arts education specialists, in schools;
    - utilize partnerships with specialized teaching artists to train teachers to augment creative thinking techniques into the instruction provided in math, reading, English language arts, science, and other subjects described in section 8101(52);
    - ensure that arts instruction provided in the State is standards-based, as applicable, and sequential with arts courses offered in the grades 6 through 12 building upon such courses offered in earlier grades;
    - increase the number of classes taught by arts educators, including arts education specialists, with a particular focus on classes with high percentages of students who are low-income, students with disabilities, English learners, or students of color; and
    - support partnerships that increase the amount of arts education and creative youth development available in afterschool and summer learning programs.
Section 1112(b) () is amended— 20 U.S.C. 6312(b)
- in paragraph (12), by striking and at the end;
- by redesignating paragraph (13) as paragraph (14); and
  - how the local educational agency will support learning in the arts and encourage the use of the arts education to improve student achievement consistent with section 1111(g)(5); and
- by inserting after paragraph (12) the following:

Sec. 203. Report cards

Section 1111(h)(1)(C) () is amended— 20 U.S.C. 6311(h)(1)(C)
- by redesignating clause (xiv) as (xv); and
  - (xiv) Information on arts courses, including—
  - the number of, range, and sequence of course offerings;
  - the average pupil-to-teacher ratio in such courses;
  - the average amount of instructional time in such courses; and
  - for each semester, the percentage (in the aggregate and disaggregated by high-poverty compared to low-poverty schools, which for the purpose of this subclause, means schools in the top quartile of poverty and the bottom quartile of poverty in the State) of—
  - schools offering arts courses;
  - students taking arts courses; and
  - arts courses taught by arts teachers with full State certification or licensure.
- by inserting after clause (xiii) the following:

Sec. 204. School improvement

Section 1111(d)(2)(B) () is amended— 20 U.S.C. 6311(d)(2)(B)
- in clause (iv), by striking and inserting a semicolon;
- by redesignating clause (v) as clause (vi); and
  - (v)
    - provides for an evaluation of the arts courses offered at such school during the school day and the certification, training and skills of staff that are teaching such courses including teaching artists; and
    - based on such evaluation, incorporate the offering of arts courses into the offerings of such school; and
- by inserting after clause (iv) the following:

Sec. 205. Arts for neglected and delinquent children and youth

Section 1415(a)(2)(B)(ii) () is amended by inserting after . 20 U.S.C. 6435(a)(2)(B)(ii)

Sec. 206. Subgrants to local educational agencies

(a) Local uses of funds
- Section 2103(b)(3) () is amended— 20 U.S.C. 6613(b)(3)
  - in subparagraph (O), by striking and inserting a semicolon;
  - by redesignating subparagraph (P) as subparagraph (Q); and
    - carrying out activities to increase pathways to obtain rigorous, high-quality teacher certification or licensure for individuals seeking to become teachers of the arts; and
  - by inserting after subparagraph (O) the following:
(b) Professional development for arts teachers
- Section 2103 () is further amended by inserting at the end the following: 20 U.S.C. 6613
  - (c) Professional development for arts teachers
    - In carrying out the programs and activities described under subsection (a), a local educational agency shall provide professional development for teachers of the arts, as appropriate, to fulfill the needs of such agency and the schools of such agency.
  - (d) Professional development for integration of the arts
    - In carrying out the programs and activities described under subsection (a), a local educational agency shall provide professional development for teachers to integrate the arts into their instruction in math, reading, English language arts, science, and other subjects described in section 8101(52).

Sec. 207. 21st century community learning centers

(a) Arts organizations
- Section 4205(a) () is amended— 20 U.S.C. 7175(a)
  - in paragraph (13), by striking ;
  - in paragraph (14), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and; and
    - partnering with, integrating the services of, and utilizing the services and offerings provided by arts services organizations or other community-focused arts nonprofits and organizations that further creative youth development.
  - by adding at the end the following:
(b) Professional development
- Section 4203(a)(6) () is amended by inserting after . 20 U.S.C. 7173(a)(6)

TITLE III—Amendments to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 and to the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968

Sec. 301. Amendments to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974

Section 223(a) of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 () is amended— 42 U.S.C. 5633(a)
- in paragraph (32) by striking and at the end,
- in paragraph (33) by striking the period at the end and inserting , and
  - describe how the State will coordinate services, activities for juvenile justice and delinquency prevention with State and local agencies and organizations, including State and local arts agencies, arts organizations, and organizations that further creative youth development.
- by adding at the end the following:

Sec. 302. Amendments to adult and juvenile offender demonstration projects and the State, tribal and local reentry courts programs

The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 is amended in section 2976(b)(4)—
- by striking in subparagraph (A);
  - use arts education programs and services to better facilitate reentry and reduce recidivism and connect offenders to educational opportunities and employment after reentry into the community; and
- after subparagraph (A), by inserting the following:
- by redesignating subparagraph (B) as subparagraph (C).

TITLE IV—Amendments to the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 and the National Assessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act

Sec. 401. Arts research

Section 133 of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 () is amended— 20 U.S.C. 9533
- in subsection (a)—
  - by striking ; and at the end of subparagraph (10)(D);
  - by redesignating subparagraph (11) as subparagraph (12); and
    - carry out research on the use of the arts and arts education that is rigorous, peer reviewed and large scale to determine which methods and uses of the arts and arts education are most effective, cost efficient and able to be applied, duplicated, and scaled up for the use in elementary and secondary classrooms, including in low-performing schools; and
  - by inserting after paragraph (10) the following:
    - Use of the arts and arts education in improving elementary and secondary education.
- in subsection (c)(2), by adding at the end the following:

Sec. 402. Arts statistical data

Section 153(a)(1) of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 () is amended— 20 U.S.C. 9543(a)(1)
- in subparagraph (N), by striking and inserting a semicolon;
- by redesignating subparagraph (O) as subparagraph (P); and
  - access to, the integration of and the inclusion of arts education; and
- by inserting after subparagraph (N), the following:

Sec. 403. National assessment of educational progress

Section 303(b) of the National Assessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act () is amended by adding at the end the following: 20 U.S.C. 9622(b)
- (7) Arts assessment
  - The Assessment Board shall select the arts as a subject to be assessed under this subsection, at the same frequency and in the same grades (at a minimum) as such assessment was scheduled prior to July 24, 2021.