Proposition 28—Arts and Music Education FAQs

1. Who is eligible to receive AMS funding?

Eligible recipients include certain public preschools, TK–12 public schools (including charter schools), and the State Special Schools (California School for the Blind, Fremont; California School for the Deaf, Fremont; and California School for the Deaf, Riverside). Funding will be calculated at the school site level and allocated to the local educational agency (LEA), which is required to allocate funds to eligible school sites in the amounts calculated by the California Department of Education (CDE).

2. Which preschools will receive funding?

Funding for preschools is limited to LEA-based California state preschool programs and preschools for pupils with exceptional needs in an LEA. In accordance with statute, all funds will be apportioned to the LEA, which is required to allocate funds to eligible school sites in the amounts calculated by CDE.

3. How much funding is available? (Updated 7-24-2023)

The amount of funding available each fiscal year for the AMS program will be one percent of the K–12 portion of the Proposition 98 funding guarantee provided in the prior fiscal year, excluding funding appropriated for the AMS program. The measure specifies that this funding is on top of the minimum Proposition 98 guarantee calculated for the year excluding the amount provided under the AMS program.

Approximately $938 million has been appropriated in the Budget Act for 2023 for the AMS program for the 2023–24 fiscal year.

4. Will the amount of funding for each fiscal year change? (Updated 7-24-2023)

The amount of funding available for each fiscal year will be determined prior to the beginning of the fiscal year by the Department of Finance (DOF) as part of the May Revision of the Governor’s Budget. This total appropriation amount is final.

5. Does my LEA need to apply for AMS funds? How will allocations be calculated? (Added 08-31-2023)

LEAs do not need to apply for AMS funds. Funding will be automatically allocated by the CDE to each K–12 LEA using the methodology outlined in subdivision (c) of Education Code Section 8820 , which is based on the share of statewide total enrollment and the share of enrollment of economically disadvantaged pupils, as defined in Education Code Section 8821 , at each eligible schoolsite of the K–12 LEA.

6. Is there a timeline available for the rollout of funding to LEAs? (Updated 7-24-2023)

The CDE anticipates it will be able to publish estimated allocations of AMS funds no sooner than fall of 2023 due to the complexity required to implement a new program of this magnitude.

AMS funds will be included in an LEA's monthly Principal Apportionment as soon as practicable. For information about the Principal Apportionment, go to the CDE Principal Apportionment web page.

7. What type of arts programs can these funds be used for?

"Arts education program" includes (but is not limited to) instruction and training, supplies, materials, and arts educational partnership programs for instruction in: dance, media arts, music, theatre, and visual arts including folk art, painting, sculpture, photography, craft arts, creative expression including graphic arts and design, computer coding, animation, music composition, ensembles, script writing, costume design, film, and video.

8. Are there restrictions on how schools can use this funding? (Updated 7-24-2023)

All funds must be used to provide arts education programs, as described in FAQ 6. LEAs with more than 500 pupils must expend at least 80 percent of the funds to employ certificated or classified employees to provide arts education instruction and the remaining funds for training supplies, curriculum, professional learning, materials, and arts educational partnership programs. The department may, for good cause shown, provide a waiver from this requirement.

Additionally, no more than 1 percent of funds received may be used for an LEA’s administrative expenses, including indirect costs, to implement this program.

LEAs that use AMS funds for arts program instruction as part of the regular school day should keep in mind that statute requires that students be under the immediate supervision and control of a certificated employee of the LEA in order to generate attendance for apportionment and receive instructional time credit. Information about attendance accounting and instructional time requirements is available on the CDE Instructional Time and Attendance Accounting web page.

9. Who decides which program a school will offer?

Each school can determine which program or programs it will offer. School administrators—in collaboration with teachers, families, and students—should together make the choice that best serves students in their local school community.

10. Can schools pool their AMS funds, and can school districts help to facilitate inter-school programs? (Updated 7-24-2023)

Yes, schools can share teachers and teacher aides as well as community arts partners, and school districts can help facilitate this sharing among schools. For example, a teacher could teach at one school on Monday and Tuesday and at another on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. However, other restrictions outside of AMS could prohibit or restrict this. For example, LEAs that use AMS funds for arts education program instruction as part of the regular school day should keep in mind that statute requires that students be under the immediate supervision and control of a certificated employee of the LEA in order to generate attendance for apportionment and receive instructional time credit. Information about attendance accounting and instructional time requirements is available on the CDE Instructional Time and Attendance Accounting web page.

11. Will these funds be subject to the annual state compliance audit pursuant to EC Section 41020?

Yes, AMS funds are subject to an annual audit to include verification that LEAs expended funds in accordance with their certifications and the requirements in EC Section 8220 beginning with the 2023–24 annual audit.

12. What are the reporting requirements for this program?

Each school is required to submit an annual board-approved report to be posted on the school district's and Department of Education's websites that details the type of arts education programs funded by the program; the number of full-time equivalent teachers, classified personnel, and teaching aides; the number of pupils served; and the number of school sites providing arts education programs with such funds.

13. Has a Resource Code been established for these funds? (Updated 7-24-2023)

Standardized Account Code Structure (SACS) Resource Code 6770 has been established for AMS funding.

14. Do any "supplement not supplant" requirements apply to AMS? (Added 08-31-2023)

Yes, Education Code Chapter 5.1, Section 8820, subsection (g) subdivision (2), states that as a condition of receipt of funds pursuant to this chapter, an LEA shall annually: “Certify that such funds received will be used to supplement funding for arts education programs and that funds received in the prior fiscal year were, in fact, used to supplement arts education programs.” The CDE recommends that each LEA seek guidance from their legal counsel relative to their annual usage of Prop 28 funds and whether or not they can make this certification each year.