RALEIGH (AP) — The North Carolina House has agreed public school students should be required to get some culture before getting a high school diploma.
House members voted 98-19 on Wednesday for a bill that would insert one credit of arts education such as music, theater or dance into the required curriculum to graduate starting with ninth graders in 2016. The bill would allow the credit to be earned in middle school.
The bill pitted legislators who say arts participation encourages creativity and increases its appreciation against those who argue the classes should remain optional because some students just aren’t good at drawing or playing an instrument.
The bill now heading to the Senate passed on the day hundreds of arts boosters held their lobbying event at the Legislative Building.