Heart of Art—Prop 28 Toolkit
This article originally published on September , 2025 in the Ledger Dispatch Newspaper. Click here to view the article on their website or read below.
By Meghan Joy “MOJO” O’Keefe
The article we published last week, September 18th, covered the celebration of the new monies that the county office, school district, and school sites are receiving annually as a result of California voters passing Prop 28 in 2022.
This week, we aim to let you know how you can be involved in the process of implementation of Prop 28 funds.
Everybody is stoked that there is permanent funding for arts education for the first time since the 1970s.
It’s time to celebrate these significant dollars being infused into our community. Our local school district is doing a great job implementing these new additions to arts education at all the school sites. Thanks to years of community input and advocacy in partnership with Amador County Arts Council (Amador Arts), our schools have an Arts Education Plan (adopted in 2020) to serve as a guide for advancing equitable, rigorous, standards-based arts education for 100% of the students in grades Pre-Kindergarten through 12 (as required by education code).
BUT…the thing is, your vote isn’t enough.
The people’s voice has power in other parts of the process.
Our responsibility is to show up for the long-game and be active members of how educational funds are spent.
What does that mean?
It means that everybody (all ages) has a place at the table to donate their input to the process.
Where do you start?
You start with the Prop 28 Toolkit produced by CreateCA. Here, you can learn about the allocations going to your school, get prepped-up to be part of your school sites planning process, and get all those pesky frequently-asked-questions answered. There is even a template for developing that spending plan in collaboration with your school! Regardless of where your school is in the process, there is always ongoing and annual need for community input. So make your voice heard.
Reach out to your school site, school district, or county office of education to let them know that you want to be part of the community input process for the Arts Education spending. These plans are always cycling through a process of assessment, reevaluation, and activation—it is never too late to become an active education advocate by joining the ongoing planning process. Input from the public is always needed.
From Create CA: “The Prop 28 AMS Planning Toolkit, developed in consultation with arts education field leaders, will help Local Education Agency (LEA) administrators, school site staff, and their allies collaborate to effectively plan for Prop 28 AMS and strategize to build or further develop a comprehensive arts program in dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual arts in every school and grade level.
The toolkit includes profiles of school districts’ efforts to develop arts programs, common questions, and templates to aid Prop 28 AMS planning.
Disclaimer: These documents are for planning purposes only. They are not official compliance documents. None of the content should be construed as legal advice or interpretation of the education code requirements for Prop 28 AMS. Schools and LEAs are encouraged to use these items in a manner best suited for their unique situation.”
If you need help understanding the Prop 28 planning process, please reach out to Amador County Arts Council (Amador Arts) for support. (209)256-8166, info@amadorarts.org. Amador Arts is a 501c3 established in 1982 to serve as the “field office” to the California Arts Council, a state agency. Our focus is to catalyze the arts by providing arts technical assistance, collecting arts data, and producing performances. Find out more are amadorarts.org.
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