A group of music creators, distributors, and educators arrived in Washington, D.C., Sunday night for three days of aggressive lobbying for federal arts funding.
They are members of the nonprofit National Association of Music Merchants — known as NAMM — which is based in Carlsbad.
The music advocates are from 41 states, including California.
Why it matters
The NAMM delegation is going to Capitol Hill to aggressively lobby lawmakers. The next government shutdown could happen on Friday unless Congress approves a stop-gap funding measure.
At risk is more than $7 billion annually budgeted to Title I school districts across the country, serving students at risk and from low-income families.
By the numbers
NAMM is committed to asking Congress to continue to fund the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) federal education law.
The law provides for every student to have a well-rounded education that includes music and the arts. A cut in funding or a government shutdown could immediately impact the education of 50.4 million students nationwide.
A Closer Look
"We want to make sure that our elected representatives know about all these other issues as they work (to prevent a shutdown). They must know that music education is a viable part of a child's learning," said John Mlynczak, president of NAMM.
The NAMM advocates come from states with their own budgets that depend on money from the federal government to keep their arts programs going.
