New Jersey Was the 1st State to Offer Arts in All Schools

While Delaware likes to boast that it was the "first state," ratifying the U.S. Constitution first. New Jersey may have come in third back then, now we came first for something a little different. It was announced in September by Governor Phil Murphy that New Jersey is the first state to offer arts education in every school.

While visiting Paramus High School back in September Murphy announced that, "New Jersey has reached a milestone of 100 percent of our public schools offering arts programs. That's an incredible achievement that I know our state and our schools have worked very hard to accomplish."

The debate on whether funding should be allocated to the arts in schools has been long discussed. Many times when funding is scarce, the first thing to go is the arts program. Luckily, for students in New Jersey, they have the ability to explore their creativity with numerous arts programs.

Murphy also added, "The future of New Jersey is bright, and today’s announcement is a critical step in ensuring that our children reach their full potential..."

According to NorthJersey.com, "About 81 percent of students study one of four arts disciplines — dance, music, theater and visual art — which is an all-time high in the state." In about a decade that number has increased about 25%.

Sources: Pix 11, NorthJersey.com