Many city high schoolers aren’t meeting the state’s bare-bones requirement that they get two semesters of art instruction, a new audit found.
State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said as many as two-thirds of students sampled by his office had something awry with their art courses — including uncertified teachers, no syllabus, or no proof that they fulfilled the required 108 hours.
His audit found that seven of the 310 students examined were awarded art credits toward a diploma without meeting the state’s minimal guidelines.
“Our audit reveals too many New York City schools may be cutting corners with arts education,” said DiNapoli said. “We all want to find the right formula to improve education and improving arts instruction needs to be part of that equation.”
City Department of Education officials said most of the errors cited in the audit were signs of poor documentation rather than definitive proof that kids hadn’t met the requirements.
They agreed with the comptroller’s recommendations to beef up record-keeping and ensure all kids meet the requirements.