AREA — Earlier this month, parents across New Jersey attended endof- year performances by student choirs, bands, dance ensembles and theater groups. They packed highschool cafeterias to admire student art shows, and cheer on elementaryschool graduates as they sang together with their classmates According to The NationalAssessment of Educational Programs in the Arts, however, student exposure to arts education in schools has seen a steady decline since 1997. Research also shows that students in low-income and ethnically-diverse school districts have always been less likely to have access to arts education programs than their more affluent peers.