Middle-school music teachers in California schools can now apply for funding from the California Music Project. Twenty grants of $1000 each will be awarded by the Music Project to enhance successful music programs for seventh and eighth graders.

The California Music Project, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, has the mission to strengthen music education in California’s public schools through advocacy and funding of effective programs and people, and was established in 2004 through grant funds of the California Arts Council. The organization was created shortly after the release of The Sound of Silence, a study from the Music for All Foundation that revealed an unprecedented and alarming decline of music education in California public schools.

Applications must be completed by a full-time certified music specialist whose primary responsibility is teaching in middle school (defined as schools that have a majority of their students in the seventh and eighth grade). For a copy of the application, go to http://www.californiamusicproject.com/programs_grants.html . Applicants should fill out the application and send to the following address: California Arts Council, 1300 “I” Street, Suite 930, Sacramento, CA 95814, Attn: California Music Project. Deadline for applications is December 14, 2007. For more information on the California Music Project, go to www.californiamusicproject.com.