It’s the last Roundup of the year — and it will have to last. The first one for 2009 won’t come until Monday as The Roundup takes a few days off to ring in the new year.

THIS IS NOT THE SOLUTION: Dallas Independent School District’s $84 million budget shortfall has been well-documented. As the district continues to sort through ways to save money, let’s hope officials don’t look west.

Los Angeles Unified School District has decided to cut an important arts program as it was forced to shed nearly $400 million from this year’s budget. The program, called Arts for L.A., monitors arts programs in the Los Angeles area. The district funds the program, and in turn, participating organizations perform for students, train teachers, repair instruments, etc.

Many of L.A.’s smaller arts groups depend on the program to help them meet their own budgetary needs, and without it, it’s uncertain if those groups will survive until the program is reinstated.

“You can’t say ‘go play for a few years and then come back when we’re ready’, ” Mark Slavkin, vice president for education for Los Angeles’ Music Center, told the Los Angeles Times. “It takes years to build infrastructure.”

PRESS PLAY: Some of the world’s biggest acts have new albums slated for early 2009, including Bruce Springsteen and U2. Add to that list a couple of North Texas artists. Fort Worth’s Pat Green will release What I’m For on Jan. 27, while Burleson’s Kelly Clarkson readies a to-be-titled album for March 17. You can read more about those discs and what else your ears can expect for early 2009 over at dfw.com.

TIME TO VOTE: Glasstire. the online Texas visual arts magazine, is taking votes on the best museum show in the state for 2008. Four local shows are in the running: Olafur Eliasson’s Take Your Time at the Dallas Museum of Art, Martin Puryear at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, J. M. W. Turner at the DMA and Kara Walker at the Modern. At last check, the poll hasn’t received just a ton of votes, so click over there and make a difference.