The Conference of Big 5 School Districts Welcomes the City School District of Albany as a New Affiliate Member

For Release: 1/24/2020
Contact: Jennifer K. Pyle 518-465-4274

The Conference of Big 5 School Districts Welcomes the City School District of Albany as a New Affiliate Member

The Conference of Big 5 School Districts is pleased to announce that the City School District of Albany is now an Affiliate Member of the Conference.  In addition to Albany, Big 5 Members include the Buffalo, New York City, Rochester, Syracuse, Yonkers, Mount Vernon and Utica public school districts. The Conference was founded in 1958 to identify and seek solutions to the common and unique problems facing the State’s largest city school districts. In 2014, membership was expanded to include Affiliate Members with comparable student demographics and local fiscal capacity issues.

Collectively, the Conference of Big 5 School Districts’ member school districts enroll 46% of New York State’s public school students. Central to their uniqueness is the diversity among the students served, the high concentration of poverty in their communities, and the fiscal constraints imposed upon their school districts.  These school districts have found that by uniting together they have a much stronger voice in representing urban education.

The City School District of Albany’s challenges and priorities are closely aligned with those of the other Member districts and the core mission of the Conference.  They look forward to engaging with the other Big 5 Members to promote a more equitable and adequate funding system and the delivery of a high-quality education to all children.