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The bill expands Title I allowable uses to improve access to arts and music education and support educators in high-need schools, but it risks diverting limited Title I resources, imposing new costs and administrative burdens, and creating uneven access across states.
Title I students (especially in high-need schools) will gain access to sequential, standards-aligned arts and music education (dance, media arts, theater, visual arts, music), expanding well-rounded learning opportunities and potentially improving engagement and academic outcomes.
Certified arts and music educators, plus community arts providers, will have increased employment and professional development opportunities, raising instructional quality in school arts/music programs.
Schools serving Title I students can use federal ESEA/targeted-assistance funds to pay for arts/music supplies, instruments, technology, and in some cases salaries, reducing local budget pressure for these materials and supports.
Title I schoolwide and targeted-assistance funds could be diverted to arts/music at the expense of core academic interventions (reading, math, remediation), reducing supports for high-need students if budgets are constrained.
State and local education agencies may face increased costs to hire certified arts/music teachers, provide professional development, and maintain programs, increasing local and state education expenditures and potential taxpayer burden.
Different State definitions and certification standards for 'certified arts educators' and music teachers can create uneven access and variable program quality across districts and states, producing equity concerns.
Based on analysis of 10 sections of legislative text.
Expands ESEA allowable uses to explicitly include sequential, standards‑based arts and music instruction and program supports using Title I and related funds.
Official title: Amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to expand access to school-wide arts and music programs, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 5, 2026 by Cory Anthony Booker · Last progress March 5, 2026
Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to require and explicitly authorize sequential, standards-based arts and music instruction in K–12 schools that receive federal funds. The bill adds arts (dance, media arts, theater, visual arts) and music to the ESEA’s ‘‘well‑rounded education’’ and targeted assistance provisions, allowing funding and programmatic support for certified arts and music educators, professional development, supplies, instruments, and other instructional costs. The changes expand allowable uses of schoolwide and targeted assistance funding to support arts and music programs and clarify that states may count certified arts and music instruction as meeting challenging State academic standards when aligned to those standards.