NC Governor Roy Cooper

NC Arts High School Graduation Requirement Signed into Law by Governor Cooper

NC Arts High School Graduation Requirement Signed into Law by Governor Cooper

Former Rep. Linda Johnson, Rep. Becky Carney, Rep. Jeffrey Elmore, Sen. Deanna Ballard, Sen. Mike Woodard, and former Arts NC Executive Director Karen Wells
Left to Right: Former Rep. Linda Johnson, Rep. Becky Carney, Rep. Jeffrey Elmore, Sen. Deanna Ballard, Sen. Mike Woodard, and former Arts NC Executive Director Karen Wells

On July 2, 2020 Governor Roy Cooper signed Senate Bill 681 into law which, among other things, created an Arts High School Graduation Requirement in North Carolina. Arts NC had worked for this vital arts education legislation for over a decade and fully supports this major breakthrough for equitable access to quality arts instruction as part of a well-rounded education for every North Carolina student. Now, according to NC State Law:

  • A student must complete ONE arts credit (music, visual art, theatre arts, dance) between Grade 6 and Grade 12 in order to graduate from high school, beginning with those students entering Grade 6 in 2022.
  • The NC State Board of Education will define the standards of the arts credit and to plan for its phased-in implementation.
  • The NC State Board of Education would report to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on or before December 15, 2022 about the implementation of this high school graduation requirement and of the three components of Comprehensive Arts Education (arts education, arts integration, and arts exposure)

It was June of 2010 when Rep. Becky Carney and Rep. Linda Johnson first offered an amendment to establish a Comprehensive Arts Education plan, and both worked tirelessly as champions for arts education alongside former Arts NC Executive Director Karen Wells to make the arts high school graduation requirement a reality. There have been half a dozen bills filed to create this graduation requirement over the last decade, most recently H56 was filed in 2019 by Rep. Becky Carney and her fellow Joint Caucus on Arts and Arts Education House Chair, Rep. Jeffrey Elmore, who has also been a champion for arts education since his arrival at the NC General Assembly. Senate Chairs of the Joint Caucus on Arts and Arts Education, Sen. Deanna Ballard and Sen. Mike Woodard, also filed an identical bill (S238) in 2019, which additionally supported the requirement’s inclusion in the 2019 state budget. Although it passed both chambers of the legislature, the Governor’s veto kept it from becoming law. This years-long effort and bipartisan support, enabled the language from those bills to be added to S681 in committee on Thursday, June 25th, and approved by both chambers of the NC General Assembly in the wee hours of the morning. With Governor Cooper’s signature, the Arts High School Graduation Requirement became law in North Carolina.

Arts NC wants to express tremendous gratitude to all the legislators and advocates that never gave up on this issue over these many years. This victory for arts education is a testament to the value of advocacy and perseverance. This accomplishment is of course made bittersweet by the fact that it cannot be shared with Rep. Johnson, who passed away in February 2020. We are glad we can build on the work that Rep. Johnson, Rep. Carney, and so many others started, and together create a North Carolina where equitable access to comprehensive arts education can be embraced by all as indispensable.