VAPA & Proposition 28 Support

Good Evening,

I have met many of you, but to introduce myself, I am Alan Underwood and I am the newly elected Vice President of the Temecula Valley Educators Association. I am a middle school music teacher at Vail Ranch Middle School. This is my 19th year teaching, and 13th at TVUSD schools. I have also taught at Margarita Middle School and Chaparral High School.

I wanted to take the time to thank the board for approving the VAPA TOSA position. There are a lot of possibilities in the coming few years and this position will be the leader in guiding those decisions. Currently the state is funding schools at a level we haven’t seen in quite some time, and now is the time to invest that funding into our schools by investing in our VAPA students and our VAPA programs.

These VAPA programs continue to be a great connection from the district to the community. We are looking forward to grow our programs even more. We will need support and resources to make that happen.

I’m excited to see us build consistent pathways from elementary through high school. Students who connect with our VAPA disciplines at elementary school should be able to deepen their understanding and flourish at their middle schools and high schools. The programs we do have work very hard to make sure we are offering a great educational experience, but we need the resources to continue to grow and time to re-establish these pathways at all of our campuses.

With that in mind, CTA is backing Proposition 28, which would dedicate specific funding for arts education in California Schools. This proposition will have a positive impact on the work that TVUSD has started to do. When Prop 28 passes and we receive an increase in funding for VAPA programs, I look forward to working with the district, our new VAPA TOSA, and the VAPA educators at all levels to help bring our VAPA programs out of COVID. All of us have been through a lot in the past couple of years, but it is beyond time to remind our community why Temecula is the school district for arts education by making sure we have the resources and the equipment to bring the most out of our VAPA students.

Thank you.