The President's budget and the House Committee on Appropriations have no more federal funding for Parent Information Resource Centers (PIRCs) and Arts in Education programs (AIE). The National PTA urges calls to the Senate to restore federal dollars for programs essential for meeting NCLB standards.

Building kites, drawing, creating an on-line community – these are some of the ways that young survivors of Hurricane Katrina are expressing themselves as part of their healing process. Martha Pitts reports on art therapy programs that are helping kids rebound.

There’s new evidence that when arts are nurtured in schools, learning thrives as well. This three-year study, published by the Arts Education Partnership, looks at 10 elementary, middle, and high schools serving economically disadvantaged students in urban and rural that have used the arts to effectively transform their curriculum and culture. The term "Third Space" describes the positive and supportive relationships that develop among students, educators, and the community when they are involved in creating, performing, or responding to works of art.

Powerful emotions like anger can become a major roadblock to learning. Art therapy is one approach to helping kids manage those feelings and be successful. Letitia Star reports on an art therapy program in Chicago.

Karen Dorame has spent the past few years teaching professional photographers something about seeing – how to see the beauty in every child. She includes some helpful tips for taking pictures of children with special needs. David Wilkening reports on Dorame’s foundation, Special Kids Photography.

The Alliance for Young Artists and Writers provides inspiration and validation for the next generation of artists and writers.

Educators at the Bluffview Montessori School in Minnesota are using an old medium – radio – to teach modern day lessons about working and thinking creatively. Rob Capriccioso reports on this and other audio-focused programs that are gaining steam across the country.

Art and Education School funding cuts often hit arts particularly hard
-- but a new book warns that arts are not just a luxury to jettison when
times get tough. Putting the Arts in the Picture finds that integrating
arts into mainstream curriculum has quantifiable cognitive and academic
benefits. A study of 23 arts-integrated schools in Chicago showed test
scores rising up to two times faster there than in demographically
comparable schools.

In election years, a common lament is that young people aren't engaged by politics. But some educators are finding creative ways to get kids thinking, through the art and humor of political cartooning. Rob Capriccioso reports.

For the young photographers in Lynne Bernay-Roman's classes, image-making becomes an inward voyage of discovery?one their teachers say helps them be more successful in school. Letitia Monaco looks at how Bernay-Roman's Finding Focus Through Photography curriculum is working in some Palm Beach County schools.