WRITING LEGISLATIVE LANGUAGE
Writing new legislative language to replace prior language consists of two steps:
     1) Specify where in the original document the new language is to be placed. For example, in the case below, the first change is to be made in "Section 1. Title V, Part A, Subpart 15, Arts in Education." This enables a legislative staffer to quickly find the location of the change. To find the location dealing with your topic, you can do a word search in recent versions of Adobe Acrobat.
     2) Write the desired text in precise, understandable language.
     The example below is actual language submitted to replace language in Public Law 107-110, The No Child Left Behind Act of 2002. 

 NCLB legislative language for arts education
respectfully submitted by
Dennis Earl Fehr, Ed.D., Director
 Patty Bode, Ed.D., Arts Committee Chair
Mary Cain Fehr, M.Ed.
 
July 18, 2007  

Section 1. Title V, Part A, Subpart 15, Arts in Education is amended—

(a) in subsection 5551(a)(1) by inserting “The arts are defined as creative activities and products of the theater, the visual arts, dance, music, and multimedia combinations of the above, and shall be henceforth referred to as ‘the arts disciplines’”; and
(b) “To foster divergent thinking as a counterbalance to the convergent thinking fostered by most school curricula, a goal of public education shall be that all children are taught the arts by arts specialists. A further goal is that teachers of other subjects from Early Childhood through twelfth grade shall use the arts to embellish the teaching of those subjects. The teaching of art by teachers of other subjects shall not replace the teaching of the arts by art specialists, but shall occur in addition to it.”
(c) in subsection 5551(a)(2) by inserting “A goal of public education shall be for all children to receive an average of ninety minutes of art instruction per week, under the guidance of specialists in the respective arts disciplines. This instruction is to occur during the regularly scheduled school day. Arts instruction time shall not be interrupted to tutor children in other subjects or to prepare them for assessment examinations in other subjects”; and
(d) “A goal of public education shall be that arts education shall include instruction in every arts discipline for every child in the public schools of the United States.”
(e) in subsection 5551(a)(2) by inserting “To foster diversity, the study of arts forms created by artists and communities representing multiple races, cultures, religious affiliations, gender identities and under-represented groups as well as traditionally recognized groups, shall be included in all arts curricula”; and
(f) “To teach children to interpret media messages critically, arts curricula shall include study of mass media and popular culture with attention to the manipulations of arts and aesthetic content in advertising and propaganda”; and
(g) “To create a civically engaged and ethical citizenry, study of the arts shall include the examination of social justice and ethical questions posed by artworks throughout history and across world cultures.”

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