Despite decades of research, arts education is still treated as a “nice-to-have” when education budgets allow. From 2015 to 2019, the conducted a four-year study across 1,700 New York City public schools serving over 1.1 million students. They found that schools offering music and arts programming had lower rates of chronic absenteeism and higher overall school-day attendance than those that didn’t. Similarly, a found that dropout rates fell from 30% to just 6% among students participating in consistent arts programming.

Clearly, the arts are a for academic engagement, resilience and, most importantly, graduation. For example, after tracking more than 22,000 students for 12 years, the found that those with high levels of involvement in the arts were five times more likely to graduate from high school than those with low involvement.

But while over feel the arts are important for education, only , and access remains uneven. Charter schools, the fastest-growing segment of public education, have the lowest availability of arts courses: Just offer arts instruction. Students in charter schools, military families and homeschool programs are too often the ones with the fewest opportunities to engage with the arts, despite needing them most.

This is an issue that the Cathedral Arts Project in Jacksonville, Florida, is trying to solve.

In partnership with and with funding from the Florida Department of Education, our program piloted a year-long arts education initiative during the 2024-25 school year, reaching more than 400 students in charter schools, homeschools, military families and crisis care. Our teaching artists visited classrooms weekly, providing instruction in dance, music, visual arts and theater. Throughout the year, students in kindergarten through high school found joy, confidence and connection through creative learning. Homeschool students brought history to life through art projects, children from military families found comfort and stability during times of deployment and young people in crisis discovered new ways to express themselves and heal. Each moment affirmed the power of the arts to help children imagine what’s possible.

To better understand the impact of this work, we partnered with the Florida Data Science for Social Good program at the University of North Florida to analyze reports and survey evaluations collected from 88% of program participants. Here’s what we found:

Students grew not only in artistic skill, but also in self-confidence, teamwork, problem-solving and engagement. After completing the program, over 86% of students said they “like to finish what they start” and “can do things even when they are hard” — a key indicator of persistence, which is a strong predictor of long-term academic success. Students rated themselves highly in statements like, “I am good at performance.”

Families noticed, too. In the age of screens, nearly three-quarters reported that their child had increased in-person social interaction since beginning arts programming and had improved emotional control at home. Nearly one-third saw noticeable gains in creative problem-solving and persistence through challenges.

According to the survey conducted by 50CAN, parents view the arts as a meaningful contributor to their child’s learning, and they want more of it. In Florida, where families have been given the power of school choice, they’re increasingly seeking out programs that inspire creative thinking and meaningful engagement while promoting academic success. But finding them isn’t always easy. When funding allows, traditional public schools may offer band or visual arts, but these options are often unavailable to families choosing alternative education options for their children.

Now in its second year, our program fills this critical gap by working directly with school choice families across northeast Florida, bringing structured arts instruction to students who otherwise wouldn’t have access. 

What makes the arts such an effective intervention? It’s structure, expression and connection. When students learn through the creative process, they navigate frustration, build resilience and find joy in persistence. These are not soft skills — they’re essential for survival, and increasingly important in today’s workplaces.

Arts education is a necessary investment in student achievement. It’s time for other states to treat it that way and follow Florida’s lead.

Teresa Brady, who spent 24 years as president of Duval Teachers United in Jacksonville, pleaded guilty in federal court Oct. 9 to multiple counts. Co-defendant Ruby George, who was the union’s vice president for 24 years, pleaded guilty in August.

The pair were accused of swindling roughly $1.3 million each by selling supposedly unused vacation days back to the union and approving each other’s paperwork to avoid scrutiny.

Brady faces a maximum of 70 years in prison when sentenced. George faces up to 60 years. Lawyers for Brady and George did not respond to requests for comment.

Duval County Public Schools declined to comment. The union didn’t return multiple requests for comment but in January that said, “this will never happen again.”

“Duval Teachers United will pursue all legal channels to recoup lost funds and hold those responsible accountable,” the union said. “We want to be clear: Members and current leadership of Duval Teachers United and affiliated unions do not tolerate the undermining of our members or the misuse of valuable membership dollars.”

The union collects $5 million annually in dues from its 6,500 members. Roughly half is forwarded to state and national affiliates.

Federal agents raided the headquarters of Duval Teachers United in September 2023 to investigate potential misappropriation of funds. Brady and George resigned soon after. 

Duval County Public Schools employees accrue 42 vacation days per year, and the time can be rolled over, according to Brady’s . There’s no limit to how much accrued leave employees can sell back to the union at a rate equivalent to their hourly pay. 

From 2013 to late 2022, Brady and George concealed their actual leave totals from the union and its auditor, and falsely stated the amount of accumulated leave they said they needed to sell back “to avoid the leave being a liability to Duval Teachers United,” the indictment said. 

They would sign each other’s leave buyback checks so the union’s treasurer wouldn’t see them. The checks were deposited into their personal bank accounts, many in the amounts of $10,000 to more than $30,000, according to court documents. They would also request reimbursement for expenses that weren’t related to the union and pay each other bonuses without the authorization of the union board.

The leave payouts were hidden in general budget line items for salaries and payroll taxes in the union’s financial statements, the indictment said. Brady and George defrauded the union out of around $2.6 million over almost 10 years. Both were ordered to pay back the amount they stole, but because the money was already spent, the federal government will be seeking other assets, according to court documents.

Public records show that pay for both union leaders fluctuated wildly. Brady’s salary ranged from $160,000 in 2006-07 to more than $326,000 in 2019-20. She received $251,868 in 2021-22. George received $134,000 in 2018-19 and almost $327,000 the following year.

“I accept full responsibility for my actions and their consequences,” Brady . “I am truly sorry for my wrongdoing and the harm I caused to Duval Teachers United and its members. Understanding the seriousness of my offenses, I accept the outcome with humility and sincere remorse while deeply regretting breaching the trust placed in me by [Duval Teachers United], my community and my family.”

In the union’s January press release, it said several steps had been taken to protect membership dues. The organization hired an independent outside bookkeeper and now requires reimbursements to be approved by several union leaders and an outside accountant before payments are processed. The selling of vacation time also has to be approved by the union’s board of directors. 

“The board of directors has received training to empower it in their role as the governing body of Duval Teachers United,” the union said. “Board members have formed specialty committees that oversee the critical functions of Duval Teachers United operations, so transparency and accountability are always a part of our culture moving forward.”

“An investigative team from FBI Jacksonville executed a court-authorized search warrant today in furtherance of a federal investigation,” an agency spokesperson told the Florida Times-Union. “Because the investigation is ongoing, details about the search are not being released at this time.”

Local news reported that the investigation involves the . The presence of IRS agents at the raid supports this.

Union officers would not comment but released a statement that read, “We continue to be focused on upholding our mission of supporting our members and the students we serve. We are fully cooperating with authorities and anticipate a full and thorough assessment of the facts. To respect the integrity of the process, we will not discuss any further details.”

News crews spotted prominent Florida criminal defense attorney at the scene, but he would not reveal the nature of the investigation or whom he was representing.

With everyone involved mum, media outlets have followed suit. There hasn’t been a single update since the raid occurred.

Now, a raid is not itself evidence that a crime has been committed. It only shows that the FBI and IRS received enough information to convince a judge that further investigation was warranted. The presence of federal agents means the situation was beyond the scope of local law enforcement.

But the union’s finances aren’t a complete cipher. All unions and other tax-exempt organizations are required to file an annual disclosure report with the IRS. The covers the 2021-22 school year. It contains nothing that indicates criminal activity, though there is at least one curiosity.

I don’t have a definitive number for how many members the union has, though suggest it is in the vicinity of 7,500. The Duval union reported collecting more than $5 million in revenue in 2021-22, though that number is a little deceiving, since almost $2.8 million of it was forwarded to state and national union affiliates.

That left about $2.2 million for the local to run its operations. Its staff is small. The allows no more than seven people to be released to work for the union. It appears that is the number .

The union has two elected officers. The president, Terrie Brady, has held that position since 1999, and her executive vice president, Ruby George, since at least 2004-05.

That year, the union paid them $114,000 and $101,000, respectively.

Since then, their pay has fluctuated wildly. Brady’s salary ranged from $160,000 in 2006-07 to more than $326,000 in 2019-20. She received $251,868 in 2021-22.

George’s salary had a similar trajectory, though not always parallel to Brady’s. She received $134,000 in 2018-19 but almost $327,000 the following year.

It’s unusual for union officers’ pay to rise and fall that dramatically, unless they are constantly deferring compensation for tax purposes and then collecting it in later years. That may be the case here. But the amounts involved are also unusual.

For example, Brady’s taxable compensation for 2021-22 greatly exceeded the amounts paid to the presidents of United Teachers Los Angeles ($140,000), the Chicago Teachers Union ($155,000) and even that of the largest teachers union in Florida, the United Teachers of Dade ($217,000).

Duval Teachers United is similar in size to two other Florida teachers union locals, the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association and the Palm Beach County Classroom Teachers Association. Their presidents made $127,000 and $152,000, respectively, last year.

The largest local affiliates of the Florida Education Association have a of problems with the law and their own parent unions. The state and national unions have not commented on the Duval raid, but neither have they initiated a trusteeship over the local, as far as I can tell.

“There’s more to come, I’m sure.”

Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears most Wednesdays; see the full archive.