About Us

The Conference of Big 5 School Districts represents the city school districts of Buffalo, New York City, Rochester, Syracuse, Yonkers, Albany, Mount Vernon, and Utica.

• Our urban school districts enroll 43% of New York State’s public school students.
• 67% of the State’s English Language Learner pupils are educated in our member districts.
• 50% of the State’s special education students (ages 5-21) are educated in our city school districts.
• 60% of New York State’s prekindergarteners are educated in our school districts.
• The percentages of our pupils with extraordinary needs are: Buffalo 87%; NYC 77%; Rochester 91%; Syracuse 87%; Yonkers 73%; Albany 73%; Mount Vernon 65%; and Utica 85%.
• The Conference’s school districts have high rates of student mobility, homelessness and students living in temporary shelters.
• School buildings in our city school districts are older than others in the State and average over 73 years old.

Mission

The Conference of Big 5 School Districts was founded in 1958 as a membership organization representing the school systems of New York State’s five largest cities of Buffalo, New York City, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers.  Our organization was expanded in 2014 to include Affiliate Members that are other urban school districts with comparable student demographics and local fiscal capacity issues. Our membership, much like our school systems, is inclusive, diverse and expanding.

The Conference of Big 5 School Districts was founded for the purpose of identifying both the common and unique problems of the large city school districts and to advance solutions to such problems.  Central to our uniqueness is the diversity among the students we serve, the high concentrations of poverty in which they live, and the fiscal constraints imposed on us to meet their educational needs.

The Conference of Big 5 School Districts seeks to promote a more equitable and adequate funding system and the delivery of a high quality education to all children.  Our belief is that all children can succeed and should be afforded appropriate support and educational opportunities throughout their lives.

Our mission is accomplished by a strong advocacy and public information campaign representing the needs of our urban education systems.  Advocacy efforts include representation before all appropriate governmental entities as a proactive organization presenting budget initiatives and policy recommendations and reactive in analyzing and responding to various proposals.

In carrying out our mission, the Conference of Big 5 School Districts also acts as a public relations center communicating with State and local media and networking with other advocacy organizations in the promotion of urban school districts.  We maintain a data information center for collection and dissemination of information for our member districts and act as a research center conducting fiscal and programmatic analyses and reporting on urban education issues.

Representatives of the five large city school districts of Buffalo, New York City, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers and Affiliate Members Albany, Mount Vernon and Utica, work together through the organization of the Conference of Big 5 School Districts to speak with one voice on the needs and strengths of urban education in New York State.