Good morning. It’s Monday. Today we’ll look at Zohran Mamdani’s vision for the city’s sprawling school system.
The next mayor will take office at a perilous moment for education. New York is facing dismal literacy rates, an alarming crisis of school absences and stark gaps in outcomes between students from well-off families and those from low-income households — as well as possible threats to school funding from the federal government. But most candidates devoted little attention to public education before the Democratic primary in June. I asked Troy Closson, who covers education in New York, to discuss how the winner of the primary, Zohran Mamdani, sees the school system. One of Mamdani’s biggest ideas for the schools centers on weakening mayoral control and giving power to teachers and parents. Really? A mayor giving up power? That’s unheard of. When you talk about mayoral control in New York, you’re really talking about the mayor appointing whomever they want as chancellor and also appointing a majority of members on the Panel for Educational Policy, which votes on some major school contracts and policies. This is the model that has been in place for more than two decades. Mamdani has said he would still appoint the chancellor, but he has floated ideas like giving up majority control on the panel so that more teachers or families could have a say. He has said his goal is to create a school system that’s more democratic, one where mayors aren’t forcing ideas on schools without consulting the people who work and learn in them. That has excited some parents and educators across the city. Mamdani hasn’t specified exactly what he envisions. Some advocates have looked to Chicago, where, in 2027, there will be a fully elected school board after transitioning away from mayoral control. Others admit that they don’t know exactly what model might work best, but believe the current system is not the answer. Privately, a number of people across the school system told me they’re concerned about moving away from mayoral control. They argued that it would create a more unequal system where one person can’t be held accountable for the success of schools. But since winning the primary, Mamdani hasn’t said what he wants in terms of mayoral control. His position has been to say that, at this point in the race, it’s an idea he wants to explore if he becomes mayor. One reason, perhaps, is that it won’t be entirely his decision if he is elected. The State Legislature is in charge of renewing mayoral control, and typically does so for short terms. The next time will be in June 2026, six months into the next mayor’s term. Traditionally, one of the top priorities for a mayor has been getting mayoral control of schools renewed. So Mamdani’s position would be uncharted territory for Albany. Some top lawmakers on the education committees in the Assembly and the State Senate have expressed some openness to at least discussing what a new system could look like. Mamdani once called for eliminating the admissions test for eight elite public high schools. Does he still want to drop selective standards for those schools? Most public schools in New York City aren’t selective schools. They don’t consider metrics like grades or test scores in admissions. But some middle and high schools maintain selective enrollment policies. That’s true at eight of the city’s most elite high schools, where a high-stakes admissions exam represents the sole basis to determine who’s admitted. For years, there’s been a debate over whether that test should continue to exist. Those eight schools, for the past several decades, have enrolled particularly low numbers of Black and Latino students. But many Asian American students, including some from immigrant families, see them as a ticket to the middle class and a ladder into top colleges. Mamdani, several years ago, argued that the test should be abolished. Then and now he has been concerned about what he describes as pervasive segregation in the school system. But during his campaign, he has moved away from calling for the test to be removed, and has said he would support an independent review of the exam for bias. He has said his shift in position came from talking to families and understanding a broader range of perspectives on the schools. Mamdani himself went to one of those eight high schools, Bronx High School of Science, and he has said that his experience there opened his eyes to the challenges that many schools in the city face with integration. So he remains adamant that segregation is a problem and that there are steps the city could take to address that. For example, he doesn’t support selective admissions standards in the city’s middle schools. There are selective middle schools, too? A vast majority of middle schools use a lottery system to admit students, rather than selective policies. But a number of the city’s top middle schools that are considered feeder schools for those elite high schools do. They also consider grades in deciding which students to admit. Let’s put all of this in the context of the Trump era. The administration is dismantling the Education Department in Washington. The public school system in New York accounts for a third of all municipal spending. Where does that leave the next mayor? One crucial thing to know about New York City is that only about 5 percent of school funding comes from the federal government, which is significantly less than in many other districts. In Detroit, for example, federal dollars represent about a third of the public school budget. As the Trump administration slashes funds and cracks down on school districts, school officials in New York have said that, while any rollback of money is alarming, they are not concerned that schools will no longer be able to function. I would expect that Mamdani or whoever the next mayor is to work on backup plans for the school system in the event that the Trump administration does try to claw back funding here. New York is also a place where the state government contributes significantly to public education, compared with many other states, so I would expect whoever is leading City Hall next to work closely with Gov. Kathy Hochul if there are legitimate threats to school funding. Mamdani’s focus during the primary was on very young children and universal child care. You talked to a professor of sociology and education who said that the thing that was most absent from Mamdani’s official platform was any attention to classroom teaching and learning. How valid is that assessment? One thing many people would acknowledge is that few mayors have been experts on issues like school curriculum, teaching methods and the details of what happens day to day in classrooms. That said, I think some people are looking for him to articulate what he sees as the biggest problems that are holding students back from success across the city. He has talked often about inequality across the city and how too many children are affected by the lack of affordable housing or food insecurity. But people I’ve talked to also want to hear how he plans to tackle issues like absenteeism, career education and core subjects like math and reading, in part because academic outcomes have largely remained low and stagnant over the past decade. WEATHER A sunny day is ahead with temperatures nearing 88. Tonight, conditions will be mostly clear with a low near 72. ALTERNATE-SIDE PARKING In effect until Friday (Feast of the Assumption). The latest New York news
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Dear Diary: I held the elevator door for a man carrying grocery bags while walking a small dog on a leash. As we rode up, the man started to make small talk. He complained that no matter what kind of meat he bought from the farmer’s market next to the American Museum of Natural History, his dog refused to eat it. “So,” I asked, “what did you buy for him today?” “Lettuce,” the man replied. — Sergii Pershyn Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Tell us your New York story here and read more Metropolitan Diary here. Glad we could get together here. See you tomorrow. — J.B. P.S. Here’s today’s Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee. You can find all our puzzles here. Davaughnia Wilson and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at nytoday@nytimes.com. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox.
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