The primary leadership for Arts for All has come from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the County Arts Commission, and the County Office of Education. Mark Slavkin, the Music Center's Vice President for Education serves on the executive committee guiding this effort. "We are fortunate to be in a community where arts education is so highly valued by our elected leaders," said Stephen D. Rountree, President of the Music Center. "Arts for All would not have reached this level of success without the sustained support of our County Supervisors."

The vision of Arts for All is simple and bold - each of the 80 school districts in Los Angeles County will take the needed steps to restore quality arts instruction to the core curriculum for all K-12 students.

As of October 2008, 31 school districts are part of the Arts for All initiative. Each school district receives support and guidance to help them adopt an official policy for arts education, develop a multi-year implementation plan, and then reinvest budget resources to support their plan. As part of Arts for All, Music Center staff members have served as coaches for several of the participating school districts including Bassett, Beverly Hills, Compton, Culver City, Inglewood, and Palos Verdes. "It is very rewarding to see school district leaders developed a renewed enthusiasm and commitment for arts education," said Mark Slavkin, the Music Center's Vice President for Education.

Arts for All focuses on leveraging public resources, as opposed to making large-scale charitable grants. This approach received an enormous boost when Governor Schwarzenegger secured $500 million in one-time funds and $105 million in ongoing monies to support arts education in every California school district. With multi-year plans in place, the Arts for All school districts are using the new state funding to advance their key priorities, such as hiring new arts teachers and providing professional development for general classroom teachers.

The work of Arts for All and the arrival of the new state funding are providing new opportunities for community arts organizations, like the Music Center. "Rather than provide an isolated arts program here or there, arts and cultural organizations can focus on ways to help school districts develop and sustain their own ongoing arts programs," said Mark Slavkin. "In fact, through Arts for All the Music Center and the Armory Center for the Arts are providing training to other artists and arts organizations to help meet these needs. Together, I am hopeful we can leave a wonderful legacy for generations of students to come."