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What Education Policies Has Zohran Proposed For Public Schools

Leo Migdal
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what education policies has zohran proposed for public schools

Sign up for Chalkbeat New York’s free daily newsletter to get essential news about NYC’s public schools delivered to your inbox. If presumptive Democratic candidate for mayor Zohran Mamdani wins in November, he would oversee the nation’s largest school system – but he doesn’t want to do it alone. The 33-year-old democratic socialist told Chalkbeat he is “opposed to mayoral control in its current iteration” and would advocate for a system that would lean on partnerships to govern the system of roughly 911,000... The Queens assemblyman doesn’t have a long track record when it comes to city schools, but he is a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science and a former standardized testing tutor who... Despite a stunning apparent victory Tuesday, Mamdani has a long road ahead of him to get to City Hall. If he formally clinches the nomination after ranked-choice ballots are counted, Mamdani will still face in November Mayor Eric Adams, who is running a third-party campaign, and potentially former Gov.

Andrew Cuomo, who is mulling the same. Curtis Sliwa, the Guardian Angels founder, is running on the Republican ticket, and Jim Walden, a former assistant U.S. attorney, will be on the ballot as an independent. Zohran Mamdani’s proposed phaseout would trade excellence for ideology and penalize high-potential kids. Democratic Socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has proposed phasing out the successful and popular Gifted and Talented (G&T) program in New York City elementary schools, starting with eliminating kindergarten admissions next fall. If implemented, his decision would drag New York City back to the failed policies of the de Blasio administration.

Groups advancing diversity, equity and inclusion, such as the School Diversity Advisory Group that Mamdani pledges to support, have long called G&T racist and sought to terminate it because its students are disproportionately white... Claiming racism and cutting Gifted and Talented programming, however, merely diverts attention from New York public schools’ critical problems. The New York City Department of Education (DOE) performs dismally by every objective metric, from state assessment and NAEP scores to violent incidents and truancy. An end to G&T would only worsen these problems. Scrapping G&T entry at kindergarten, eventually leading to a full phase-out across all elementary grades, would deprive eager young learners of vital nurturing and stimulation, forcing them into one-size-fits-all classrooms—where boredom breeds disengagement—while doing... Mamdani’s current proposal keeps the third-grade entry point for now.

But without kindergarten admissions, G&T programs will wither. Their disappearance will likely widen the inequities Mamdani decries. A University of Pennsylvania study shows G&T’s proven results: students in the programs outperform their peers by 20 percent to 30 percent in math and reading by middle school, with low-income and black and... Phasing out G&T will hurt these students most of all, as they will lose the rigorous academic preparation that can lead them to better high schools and colleges. Mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani wants to phase out New York City’s Gifted and Talented program — the democratic socialist’s latest move to revert to ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio’s era. Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor, said Thursday he would eliminate the accelerated learning program at the kindergarten level, something that’s likely to anger parents, who have been passionately divided on the issue.

The gifted classes would remain active through the school year, but would no longer be available next fall, he said. Critics have attacked the coveted learning model as racist due to the higher number of white and Asian students that gain entry through the exam. But backers argue getting rid of the classes would eliminate opportunities for thousands of bright students from low-and-middle income families.Mamdani’s proposal would be the first step in undoing the program across all elementary schools... November 5, 2025 / 7:25 PM EST / CBS New York Of all the New York City agencies Zohran Mamdani will soon be in charge of, the largest, by a wide margin, is the public school system. Yet, the mayor-elect did not signal comprehensive plans for it during the campaign.

Many are wondering if the status quo will remain or if major shake-ups are coming. The public school system is in the midst of an ongoing bus contract dispute and has an enrollment that shrunk by 20,000 students this year, according to the Department of Education's preliminary data. On Thursday, just hours after he won the election, Mamdani held a press conference detailing his transition. Zohran Mamdani’s potential election as New York City mayor could be transformational for the city’s underfunded public K–12 schools and higher education system. Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani answers questions from the media during an event in Queens, New York, on June 19, 2025. (Adam Gray / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Jacobin‘s winter issue, “Municipal Socialism,” is out soon. Follow this link to get a discounted subscription to our beautiful print quarterly and get it right when it’s released. As New York City gets ready for a historic mayoral election, Zohran Kwame Mamdani has exploded onto the scene as a candidate proposing transformative changes to the city’s educational framework. Central to his vision is ending unilateral mayoral control and redistributing wealth to support equity, development, and research. In this exclusive interview, organizer, union activist, and professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York (CUNY), Nivedita Majumdar, discusses the potential challenges to realizing Mamdani’s platform. These include barriers to funding, connections between education and climate, and the roles of civil society and union advocacy.

Drawing lessons from historical city governance, she explains how New York’s public education landscape might evolve under a potential Mamdani administration.

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Sign Up For Chalkbeat New York’s Free Daily Newsletter To

Sign up for Chalkbeat New York’s free daily newsletter to get essential news about NYC’s public schools delivered to your inbox. If presumptive Democratic candidate for mayor Zohran Mamdani wins in November, he would oversee the nation’s largest school system – but he doesn’t want to do it alone. The 33-year-old democratic socialist told Chalkbeat he is “opposed to mayoral control in its current i...

Andrew Cuomo, Who Is Mulling The Same. Curtis Sliwa, The

Andrew Cuomo, who is mulling the same. Curtis Sliwa, the Guardian Angels founder, is running on the Republican ticket, and Jim Walden, a former assistant U.S. attorney, will be on the ballot as an independent. Zohran Mamdani’s proposed phaseout would trade excellence for ideology and penalize high-potential kids. Democratic Socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has proposed phasing out the su...

Groups Advancing Diversity, Equity And Inclusion, Such As The School

Groups advancing diversity, equity and inclusion, such as the School Diversity Advisory Group that Mamdani pledges to support, have long called G&T racist and sought to terminate it because its students are disproportionately white... Claiming racism and cutting Gifted and Talented programming, however, merely diverts attention from New York public schools’ critical problems. The New York City Dep...

But Without Kindergarten Admissions, G&T Programs Will Wither. Their Disappearance

But without kindergarten admissions, G&T programs will wither. Their disappearance will likely widen the inequities Mamdani decries. A University of Pennsylvania study shows G&T’s proven results: students in the programs outperform their peers by 20 percent to 30 percent in math and reading by middle school, with low-income and black and... Phasing out G&T will hurt these students most of all, as ...

The Gifted Classes Would Remain Active Through The School Year,

The gifted classes would remain active through the school year, but would no longer be available next fall, he said. Critics have attacked the coveted learning model as racist due to the higher number of white and Asian students that gain entry through the exam. But backers argue getting rid of the classes would eliminate opportunities for thousands of bright students from low-and-middle income fa...