Our mission in 2019

The goal to close the achievement gap in Connecticut in my lifetime has kept me up at night.

Graduation rates are increasing, but if school performance continues at current levels, it will take over 100 years to close the gap between performance for kids of color and their white peers.

For the last 15 years, ConnCAN has worked tirelessly to build coalitions and educate our communities about the issues at hand.

This year is no different.

We are at the Capitol telling our story and building support for our goal to give every child in our state the opportunity to be successful.

Follow us on our 2019 legislative journey to increase educator diversity, create pathways for success through connecting our classrooms to careers, and to develop a funding structure that treats every child the same no matter what schoolhouse their family chooses.

1. Preparing kids for future success. Connecticut’s school system must provide all kids with access to a high-quality education that prepares them for college and the jobs of tomorrow. Now more than ever, since 70 percent of Connecticut jobs will require an education beyond a high school degree, we need to prioritize college and workforce prep. That’s why we’re fighting for the creation of a task force that brings the philanthropic, business, and education communities together to discuss workforce needs and to sync them with school curricula.
2. Increasing teacher diversity. Every child benefits from real connections to their teachers. Research is clear: Students of color perform better on a vast array of academic measures when taught by teachers of color. However, even though nearly half of all public school students in Connecticut are of color, fewer than 10 percent of teachers and administrators are of color. We can do better. That’s why we’re working with our partners in the state legislature, specifically the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus members, to require culturally responsive training for all education leaders so that every public school has more workforce diversity.
3. Fairer funding of public schools. Over the past several years, we’ve made progress in Connecticut towards fairer funding of public schools, including high-quality public charters that are successfully preparing kids for college and careers. But there’s still a lot more work to do. That’s why we’re advocating for an even fairer school funding system that provides additional dollars for high-quality public charter schools.

As always, we’ll be working tirelessly to achieve these goals. But we cannot do it without your continued support. I’m hoping you’ll join us in the fight for our kids future. If you’re interested in learning more about how to get involved, text CONNCAN to 52886.

Here’s the bottom line: together, we can build an education system worthy of the immense potential of all of our kids.

• ← Previous
• Next →