Conservative Christians To Meet In Cda Sold-Out National Conference To Focus On Education Concerns
More than 700 people will converge on Coeur d’Alene next week for a forum on education - an event drawing national leaders in the conservative Christian movement.
The audience for the sold-out event, organizers say, will come from 18 states. But most of the crowd will be local.
“We have a lot of supporters in the Washington and Idaho region who have been asking us to put on a program out there for years,” said Lissa Roche, director of seminars for Hillsdale College of Hillsdale, Mich.
The small, staunchly conservative college hosts four of the forums each year, drawing hundreds of people to hear political leaders and authors. Speakers at next week’s event in Coeur d’Alene include conservative columnist Cal Thomas and Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed.
On Thursday and Friday, they and other speakers will address “the grass-roots movement to change the direction of American education,” according to a news release. The seminar, titled “Educating for Virtue: The New Values Revolution,” will be at the Coeur d’Alene Resort.
“Parents and other pro-values groups are taking on local school boards, critically evaluating curricula, and demanding not only that schools do a better job of teaching the three R’s, but also that they teach students about the fundamental concepts of right and wrong,” the college said.
Hillsdale publishes “Imprimis” - a free conservative monthly with a circulation of 620,000 - and conducts forums nationwide. The magazine’s readers, said college spokesman Joe McNamara, “have a sense that the country is going in a direction they feel is not healthy.”
McNamara said the magazine and the lectures have played a significant role in conservatism’s recent political victories.
“We may be riding the crest of the wave,” he said, “but we helped create it.”
Local conservatives said they weren’t surprised by the event’s draw.
“Values are important to our society, but we’ve kind of thrown them out the window,” said state Rep. Jeff Alltus, R-Coeur d’Alene. “I think America is recognizing that.”“There’s a large percentage of people interested in more conservative education,” he said. “It’s obvious, or they wouldn’t be out of spaces.”
“People are concerned about the perceived decline of public morals,” says Post Falls parent Don Morgan. “The root problem is an education system that isn’t working.”
, DataTimes MEMO: Cut in Spokane edition