From by Geoff Decker, writing for Chalkbeat New York:
The letter says some of the money should cover salaries to incentivize principals to comply with state arts mandates. The system lost more than 200 certified art teachers in the four years after a dedicated funding line for the arts was scrapped from school budgets, a policy that allowed principals to redirect funds elsewhere to offset several years of school-level cuts.
Also, in a piece by Eliza Shapiro in Captial New York (subscription required), the requests made in the letter are further outlined:
The advocates prioritize the hiring of licensed arts teachers, as mandated by the state but often not provided in the city's low-income schools in particular, in the letter sent to Fariña. The letter also suggests that the Department of Education spend some of the $23 million on creating new partnerships between public schools and arts and cultural institutions in the city, and on expanding professional development for current arts teachers.
The advocates also asked the chancellor to lift a hiring freeze on arts teachers, employ more part-time arts instructors, and put more pressure on schools not providing arts education that complies with state requirements.
State law requires that students earn at least one credit of arts education in order to gain a high school diploma, and that arts teachers must be certified.
The letter's signees include Pedro Noguera, a professor of education at N.Y.U.'s Steinhardt School of Education, Yvette Campbell, president of the Harlem School of the Arts and Sarah Johnson, the director of the Weill Music Institute at Carneige Hall.
The letter can be read in full here.