If a game show host asked for words associated with "disposable," contestants might answer "paper plates" or "diapers."

How, then, did "the arts" get tossed into that mix?

When districts are pressured to offer only what is on the test, music and art are the first to get forfeited. When budgets are squeezed, like old tubes of acrylic paint, too often the arts are the first to go.

The issue that gets missed is that yes, indeed, these are subjects — not "extras." The loss of enough time for the arts hurts students who prosper from this more creative side of learning. Some of those students may struggle with more mainstream subjects, but respond to the open interchange of the arts.

"Art is about analyzing, problem-solving, decision-making, identifying ... language reinforcement," said Grace Barrett, a Commack art teacher who chairs NYSUT's Committee on the Arts: Music, Dance, Theater and the Visual Arts. "In dialogue about art we talk about timelines, time periods and society. It gives us insight into social studies, global studies, science and math."

Engaged

"The arts are an integral part of a comprehensive education for all students," said NYSUT Vice President Maria Neira, who oversees the union's arts curriculum review.

"We must keep the arts central to education, even in tough budget times," said NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi. The union reflected that mission at its state convention by focusing on the arts and calculating the costs from overemphasis on testing.

"All teachers have a story about a student who was impatient with other academic subjects but stayed with school because of the arts," Iannuzzi said.

Barrett said the state learning standards spell out how students need to learn about the creation of art and artist's materials; about how art opens the door to analytical and critical thought. Students hone writing skills by writing about what they're doing with their art projects, she said.

When showing a print of a landscape painting, Barrett said, students learn "about the grandness of nature and how to respect our environment in a disposable world."

Art is multicultural, showing "the common human thread of culture through the arts," she said.

And yet, Barrett's students are often pulled out of art class for testing or extra help with other subjects. As a middle school teacher, she only gets students on a rotating basis for 10 weeks of art.

The biggest problem with the emphasis on testing is that "kids are not taught how to be problem-solvers and to think for themselves," said high school art teacher Deb Crosby, president of the Chappaqua Congress of Teachers. She reports an alarming "difference" in today's test-saturated students, "who want to be told exactly how to do something" in art class. Because in other subjects the lessons center on what is going to be on the test, students are afraid to take chances with art, she said.

"They're a lot less confident. Making a mistake is a huge issue," Crosby said. "We want students to be open, to explore. I find it to be really limiting."

The arts, she said, "have always balanced schools. There's an interchange of ideas."

AIS dilemma

Middle school music teacher MaryAnn House of the Altmar-Parish-Williamstown Faculty Association agrees.

While all students can take art and music, those who need Academic Intervention Services are the ones who do not have the opportunity to take "specials," she said.

"I have a student in my room right now who can take general music, band and chorus," said House, speaking over the enthusiastic squeaking of a clarinet in the background. "Other kids are limited."

If they score below test standards, they're put in AIS.

In high school, a student receiving remediation in a core subject may not get to take art through all four years.

House's district used to bring in artists and musicians for assemblies and have students take field trips to hear musical performances. No longer — "Because of testing," House said, "there's not a lot of extra time."

Folksinger's voice

Lately, the arts have found a well-known voice singing on their behalf. Three-time Grammy winner Tom Chapin wrote a new song about how teaching to the test hurts arts ed. The song made its debut on National Public Radio — at 7 a.m. on New Year's Day.

Yawn.

Even at that hour, Chapin got five responses on his Web site -— all from teachers who connected with his punchy song, "Not on the Test."

"He can reach kids and parents in ways we can't," said Tracy Allen, teacher and president of the Richfield Springs Faculty Association.

Chapin reached 3,000 NYSUT members at the union's annual convention in April, singing "Not on the Test" to an audience rich with supportive laughter at his depiction of how extreme testing can become.

"I felt like I was at home, among professionals who have worked in the schools, really experienced the effect of overtesting," Chapin said afterward. At www.tomchapin.com and www.notonthetest.com, where his song can be played, he hears from teachers who use his music. He knows "that school budgets for the arts have been slashed (and in some cases eliminated), and that many teachers purchase materials out of their own pocket," so he is offering free audiocassettes of his music to educators, while supplies last.

"I believe in public education and the power and promise of a well-rounded education," Chapin said at the convention. "I believe in music, arts and dance," he went on, pointing out how songs like "We Shall Overcome" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" are part of American history.

His own song, he added, is part of a "guerrilla movement" to refocus on the arts and music in public education. Chapin himself is a graduate of PS 46 in Brooklyn, Brooklyn Tech High and SUNY Plattsburgh.

Advocacy is necessary to that movement, says Barrett.

Allen, who is on NYSUT's arts committee, helps promote music programs as part of her advocacy. "We do all the things that keep us visible in the community, like concerts, choirs, jazz band and marching in the Memorial Day parade," she said.

"Art gives different types of learners pathways to grab their interest," said Barrett, who helps to gather art supplies for New Orleans schools wracked by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

— Liza Frenette