WASHINGTON -- Arts advocates led by musicians Josh Groban, Wynton Marsalis and Linda Ronstadt are fanning out on Capitol Hill to press Congress for more public funding for the arts.
Ronstadt is dismayed when school children sing something simple like "Happy Birthday" but can't match pitch, she told a House subcommittee.
The National Endowment for the Arts has been struggling to regain the $176 million in funding it received at its height in 1992. This year's total would top that with $155 million from Congress and another $50 million in the federal stimulus package.
Supporters want to maintain that funding for the 2010 fiscal year. They say 10,000 arts jobs are at risk because of the economic crisis.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
