National Endowment for the Arts - How would you run it?

Fortunately I attended public schools (1956-1968) when art and music were required in elementary schools and I participated in concert choir through high school, yet I know these days the first to go is usually the art or music teacher and sometimes both. I found this out first hand this past Friday when I was showing 3-5 year old's at an early learning school the fine art and importance of handwashing. A video and music were involved and we were in a music room, but I don't think it qualified as "art."

There were 25-35 kids in each of the four sessions, and between sessions the music teacher would describe her day and about rock n' roll Fridays when the kids could really cut loose and how some would play air guitar and slide across the floor as if on a stage. There were hand instruments and songs on flip charts written out with text and pictures, but it was the child size rectangle table in the corner that you couldn't help notice. Taped to the table on all four sides was a paper representation of a piano keyboard, now I remember using something similar to practice hand position and finger exercises, however my elementary school did have upright pianos and lessons available.

As the kids came into the room her eyes would light up as she greeted them, and they obviously loved the teacher as they took turns giving and getting hugs from her. She said that for some of her students school may be the only place where they received a hug. There was an art teacher last year, but it wasn't in this years budget and as you might expect some kids responded to and preferred art while others music.

So, if art and music is the first to go and they have been proven to help kids in other areas of studies why doesn't the National Endowment for the Arts spend more on public school funding of the arts? Why isn't there a "entertainment tax" on music, theatre, movies...that specifically goes to funding public school arts programs. Better yet since the real money is in the sports programs of schools why doesn't the NFL, NBA, MLB fund sports programs in school freeing up money for arts programs.

You can click on the February 27, 2009 LA Times link photos to see what contributors (I didn't seen any sports figures) had to say about how they would run the National Endowment for the Arts. The NEA, whose 2008 budget was approximately $144 millon, will receive $50 million out of the $787 billion stimulus package. I believe that former President George W. Bush's Fiscal Year 2009 budget request for the NEA to the House Interior Appropriations Committee was $128.4 million.

How would you fund and/or run the NEA?