***** Reformatted. Please distribute. CLINTON/GORE ON THE ARTS Bill Clinton and Al Gore believe that the arts should play an essential role in educating and enriching all Americans. The White House should help the arts become an integral part of education in every community, helping broaden the horizons of our children and preserve our valuable cultural heritage. A Clinton/Gore Administration will ensure that all of our citizens have access to the arts for all of our citizens. As President and Vice President, Bill Clinton and Al Gore will defend freedom of speech and artistic expression by opposing censorship or "content restrictions" on grants made by the National Endowment for the Arts. They will continue federal funding for the arts and promote the full diversity of American culture recognizing the importance of providing all Americans with access to the arts. The Record * Governor Bill Clinton initiated sweeping educational reforms in the 1980s. The new standards which the state adopted in 1983 include art and music in the curriculum for all K-12 students and require one-half unit of fine arts instruction for high school graduation. As a result: ! Arkansas is among only a few states that have included the arts in the basic, required high school curriculum. ! Student participation in arts programs has increased 30 percent and funding for positions for music and art teachers has increased 35 percent since 1983. ! A "Survey of Fine Arts" course at the high school level, with curriculum guidelines for art and instrumental and vocal music classes in elementary and secondary schools. * Governor Clinton has enthusiastically supported the state's commitment to programs for the general public. In 1991-92, in the face of shifting priorities and declining grant awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Governor Clinton strongly sustained the state's support for touring programs and local arts agencies. ! While many states' arts agency budgets dropped as much as 40 percent, Governor Clinton's budget for the Arkansas Arts Council increased funding for arts programs. In 1992, grants from the Arkansas state Arts Council supported 393 performances, exhibitions and arts classes in 138 cities and communities in Arkansas. ! Arkansas has a strong folk arts tradition and is home to a regional repertory theater, the nationally recognized Children's Theater, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Ballet Arkansas, and numerous local theater and performing arts programs. * Senator Gore has supported funding to bring operas, symphony orchestras, playhouses, and educational arts programs to all of America. * Opposed measures which would cut funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and place content restrictions on federally funded artists. * Led the fight to preserve funding for public television programs like Sesame Street that enrich the lives of million of American families.