Advocacy

NYS CSN Advocacy

The NYS CSN advocates to develop, promote, and sustain community schools. We do this in collaboration with government, local school districts, unions, and community partners. Through advocacy, NYS CSN works to empower policymakers and decisionmakers, uplift shared voices, and leverage community strengths and resources to remove barriers that prevent students from reaching their full potential. We undertake these efforts while keeping equity at the forefront.

Advocacy of the NYS CSN has led to the funding of Community Schools Technical Assistance Centers across the state as well as growth of the community schools strategy statewide. The NYS CSN has advocated for new, dedicated funding for community schools. While this has not yet been included in the final state budget, funding for community schools through the community schools set-aside has increased from $0 when the CSN was founded to $250 million. Dedicated funding of $100 million was included in one-house budgets in 2022 and 2023, though was ultimately left out of the state budget. The NYS CSN continues to advocate for this critical support for community schools.