Annual Fall Conference 2026

The conference took place October 21–25, 2026.

The event took place at Boston Marriott Copley in Boston, Massachusetts.

More than 1,000 big-city school superintendents, school board members, college deans of education, and senior administrators were expected to participate.

Keynote speakers were scheduled to include presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, journalist Jorge Ramos, and musical group Black Violin.

More than 1,000 attendees were expected to participate in the event.

Education leadership conferences usually call for business professional or business casual, with suits and blazers common among superintendents and board members. Boston in late October is cool and changeable, so a coat and comfortable shoes suit travel between sessions and the hotel.

It is most useful for big-city school superintendents, board members and senior administrators who want to compare notes with peers from other large urban districts, since more than 1,000 such leaders and college deans of education were expected to attend and the Council of the Great City Schools organizes it. Keynotes from Doris Kearns Goodwin, Jorge Ramos and Black Violin pointed to a broad program, but classroom teachers and leaders of small or rural districts would find less directly applicable, and vendors would face a buyer pool concentrated in large city systems.