More than 350 community, faith, and education leaders from across Connecticut packed the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cromwell Sept. 25 as part of an ambitious plan to work together toward transforming education for Connecticut’s children.

The second annual Faith, Families & Schools conference built on a year-long effort to form partnerships with the aim of tackling the most pressing challenges in Connecticut’s educational system, including the achievement gap between white students and students of color. The U.S. Department of Education, which seeks to encourage similar alliances across the country, has cited Connecticut’s effort as a model.

The CT Parent Information and Resource Center (CT PIRC) sponsored the conference in collaboration with the State Education Resource Center (SERC) and the CT State Department of Education (CSDE).

The most important knowledge participants reported gaining from the conference was how to build partnerships among families and the education and faith communities as well as an understanding that faith-based organizations have the capacity to work with schools, despite the constitutional separation of church and state. In these partnerships, the role of the faith community is not to teach religion but to capitalize on the powerful role it has in many cultures and families. Many effective youth programs that support education happen to be based in houses of worship.

The alliance between the faith community, families, and schools is based on the premise that each has complementary strengths that can contribute to students’ success. Churches, for example, serve an important function when schools are closed and provide youngsters the opportunity to work side-by-side with people of different generations. The conference emphasized the importance of working with the entirety of children’s life experiences and meeting children’s needs both inside and outside the classroom.

More than 88 percent of the participants in the conference who responded to a survey afterward rated the quality of the conference “high” or “exceptional” as well as “very useful” or “extremely useful.” A full 92 percent said they learned new information and strategies for engaging families and plan to use the information in their work with families.

George A. Coleman, deputy commissioner of the CSDE, and the Rev. Josh Pawelek of the Greater Hartford Interfaith Coalition for Equity and Justice delivered keynote addresses. The conference also featured panel discussions and dialogue sessions offering the different perspectives of faith and community organizations, of schools and educators, and of families. The participants represented several faiths—Christian, Muslim, and Jewish—as well as non-believers.

Participants will be invited to attend another session in March to follow up on the goals they have established. For more information on how to get involved, contact Veronica Marion, co-coordinator, CT PIRC, (860) 632-1485, ext. 391.

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