The cultural sector’s contribution to the School District of Palm Beach County and other learning locations.

*Originally published with year one survey data. Updated January 17, 2020 with year two data.

As late as the 1960s and 1970s, the value of the arts and its integral play within American culture were a given. Its evidence was not only visible on the concert stage but locally within private and public events and halls and within the home as a common form of expression. The use of the arts within education came without much argument. According to a study by the RAND Corporation, by the early 1990s, “the social and political pressures that culminated in what became known as the ‘culture wars’ put pressure on arts advocates to articulate the public value of the arts.” The intrinsic value of arts education was less promoted during this time and usurped by arguments about more measurable benefits such as economic impact.

The advantage of arts education is still perceived by many as subjective. Within the state of Florida, students who don’t pass the FCAT in reading or math, or who are identified as a low-performing tester in reading or math are required to take intensive remedial courses in place of an arts class. In high school, arts courses count as electives. In Florida, students struggling academically have fewer chances to take arts classes. To counteract declines in arts education, nonprofit arts and cultural organizations in Palm Beach County stretch their budgets to ensure students received arts and cultural experiences.

In 2017, the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County (the Council) commissioned a study to assess contributions made by the county’s nonprofit arts and cultural organizations, (referred to herein as cultural organizations), to the School District of Palm Beach County (District) and other Palm Beach County schools. This study tracked contributions made during the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 school years. The programs and services inventoried through both studies documented education received by students outside the District budget. Never before has there been a comprehensive inventory of this kind in Palm Beach County.

Cultural organizations provided data about the types of cultural education provided both during and outside of the school day to students and teachers in the District and other learning locations, as well as instructional time, budgets, and staffing dedicated to cultural education.

This two-year study is a record of education delivered by 55 nonprofit cultural organizations that provided cultural education in 94% of District schools and more than 300 other learning locations in Palm Beach County. Alone, those cultural organizations contributed $22.7 million in cultural education programming to District schools– an average of more than $250,000 per organization. This survey sample represents approximately 65% of all Palm Beach County cultural organizations providing education services within the county.

Key Findings

For the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 school years, 55 nonprofit cultural organizations in Palm Beach County:

Participating Organizations