No Obituary Needed for Arts Education, Study Reveals

But disparities seen in availability based on income

Rumors of the death of arts education in public schools have been greatly exaggerated, new federal findings suggest.

Over the past decade, the availability of music and visual-arts instruction on average has changed little, and remains high, when compared with a decade ago, according to a major federal report on arts education issued this month.

But that’s not the whole story. The data offer a complicated—and sometimes conflicting—narrative of the changes in arts access in public schools, with some ups, some downs, and some maintenance...