Last month, Beaumont, TX students took to the state capitol in Austin to fight for their right to quality arts education.  Throughout June, the Beaumont Independent School District (BISD) in Texas has been under some unique pressure to fix a budget problem. 

The School Board’s initial solution was to lay off 231 educators in the district, which would include most fine arts educators in the subjects of band, choir, arts, and drama. A group of students and business owners disagreed with this decision and launched an advocacy campaign that would ultimately reverse the targeted layoffs of fine arts educators.

Amongst a difficult battle which included the Texas Education Agency, the District Attorney, the BISD School Board, teachers unions, and a state appointed Conservator, it was the successful organizing of the students (and their efforts in Austin and on Twitter), which mobilized hundreds of supporters to rally together and ultimately strike down the decision to target fine arts teachers to fix the budget problem.