Testimony at Joint Oversight Hearing on Arts Education with the New York City Council

On Tuesday, April 8th, I was invited to present a testimony on equitable arts education at the Joint Oversight Hearing with the New York City Council.

You can watch the testimony here, and read the testimony below.

Transcript:

Dear City Council Members,

Thank you for inviting stakeholders in arts education to testify today. 

My name is Brian Wagner-Yeung. I am the Neurodiversity and Accessibility Chairperson for the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA)¹ and a music educator for New York City Public Schools, teaching in a District 75 Program.

In addition, I am an adjunct instructor at CUNY Brooklyn College and an independent music education consultant. I am also the proud author of The Accessible Music Classroom for All, which was recently published.

Per the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)², the arts are included in the language of the law as providing a well-rounded education for ALL. Every student should be designated a pathway for success, including through the arts.

As you have heard throughout today, accessible arts education offers endless benefits for ALL. I have seen countless times why access to arts education benefits every student. Here are some examples from my own classroom and experience: 

• Participation in music has increased self-esteem, self-worth, and self-concept.

• Participation in music has impacted language, social skills, emotional regulation, independence, empowerment, and empathy.

• Access to music has created a culture of welcome and belonging.

• Music and the arts are sometimes the only subject areas where students can thrive or find success.

• Access to a high-quality music program allows students to have future career pathways through the arts.

• Access to local and statewide artistic experiences stays with our students for the rest of their lives.

“Music reaches every student academically, emotionally, socially, personally, culturally, intrinsically, and more. Music brings joy, passion, voice, emotions, release, safety, escape, identity, compassion, and relatability to ALL. How can we not ensure that every one of our students has access to this?”³

These examples are due to access to arts education in our schools. Therefore, I urge you to fully support arts education in ALL our New York City schools. 

To do this, we can ensure:

• Arts education is fully funded and accessible to ALL students in ALL programs and schools.

• ALL schools have the funds to hire certified arts educators to develop high-quality instruction and experiences.

• Opportunities to use the arts to support lifelong learning are provided in ALL schools.

• The arts should establish partnerships with our New York City communities and cultural institutions and develop pathways to careers and readiness that will support our local economy. 

Thank you for your time.

¹ New York State School Music Association (2025). Accessed at https://www.nyssma.org/.

² National Association for Music Education (2016). The Every Student Succeeds Act: What is Is, What it Means, and What’s Next. Retrieved from https://nafme.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ESSA-In-Plain-EnglishFINAL-2-2016.pdf 

³ Wagner-Yeung, B. (2025). The Accessible Music Classroom for All (p. 32). Rowman & Littlefield in cooperation with the National Association for Music Education.