Why Mamdani Might Be Willing To Have Less Power Over Schools

Sign up for Chalkbeat New York’s free daily newsletter to get essential news about NYC’s public schools delivered to your inbox. Zohran Mamdani has not sketched out a plan to manage the nation’s largest school system. But the Queens assemblyman, who won a decisive victory for the Democratic mayoral nomination on Tuesday, has one big idea: giving himself less power. Since 2002, the state has granted the mayor of New York City almost complete authority over the public school system. The mayor unilaterally selects the schools chancellor and appoints the majority of the Panel for Educational Policy, a board that votes on school closures, contracts, and other major changes to Education Department regulations. Most mayoral candidates this year said they support mayoral control, though some suggested tweaks.

Every mayor has lobbied state lawmakers in Albany for extensions to mayoral control since it was enacted more than two decades ago. Mamdani, a 33-year-old Democratic socialist, has vowed to be an exception to that rule. “Zohran supports an end to mayoral control and envisions a system instead in which parents, students, educators and administrators work together,” his campaign website states. In its place, he calls for a “co-governance” model that empowers existing organizations, such as elected parent councils and local school teams that include administrators, teachers, and caregivers. The educational priorities of socialist Big Apple mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani could undermine progress in the nation’s largest school system, veteran education experts warn. The Democratic Party candidate was the only hopeful who said he wants to gut mayoral control of the city school system — a set-up that has been in place since 2002 and supported by...

“Zohran supports an end to mayoral control and envisions a system instead in which parents, students, educators and administrators work together to create the school environments in which students and families will best thrive—strengthening... Mamdani repeated during a NY1 interview last week that he wanted to go beyond a mayor having an “automatic majority” of appointments to the Panel for Educational Policy. The socialist Democrat, who was endorsed by the United Federation of Teachers after he overwhelmingly won the Dem primary last month, said he is on the same wavelength as the union, which has long... I was alerted to this story by my colleague, David Bloomfield. Zohran Mamdani has not sketched out a plan to manage the nation’s largest school system yet. But the Queens assemblyman, who won a decisive victory for the Democratic mayoral nomination, has one big idea: giving himself less power.

Since 2002, the state has granted the mayor of New York City almost complete authority over the public school system. The mayor unilaterally selects the schools chancellor and appoints the majority of the Panel for Educational Policy, a board that votes on school closures, contracts, and other major changes to Education Department regulations. Most mayoral candidates this year said they support mayoral control, though some suggested tweaks. Every mayor has lobbied state lawmakers in Albany for extensions to mayoral control since it was enacted more than two decades ago. Mamdani, a 33-year-old Democratic socialist, has vowed to be an exception to that rule. As reported by Chalkbeat/New York.

“Zohran supports an end to mayoral control and envisions a system instead in which parents, students, educators and administrators work together,” his campaign website states. In its place, he calls for a “co-governance” model that empowers existing organizations, such as elected parent councils and local school teams that include administrators, teachers, and caregivers. In 2014, Mayor Bill de Blasio entered office after promising to create Pre-K for All, the nation’s largest free, full-day, high-quality universal prekindergarten program. There were 19,000 students in full-day pre-K when de Blasio took office. Eighteen months later, nearly 70,000 children were enrolled; every 4-year-old whose caregiver applied was offered a seat. The City hired and trained thousands of teachers, built outreach programs that reached every corner of the city, developed curricula and instructional standards, expanded bilingual programs and built systems for safety and quality.

Pre-K for All is now hailed as one of the biggest wins for New York families in recent memory. And it was only possible because de Blasio had direct responsibility for the schools. Mayor-elect Mamdani has also made an ambitious promise to our youngest New Yorkers: to provide universal childcare for all children beginning at 6 weeks old. The proposal shows he understands the power of investing in our youngest New Yorkers and their families. Quality early education programs like childcare and Pre-K offer a powerful one-two punch. First, they help children become more prepared for school and have better long-term outcomes in education, health and employment.

And second, in a city where childcare can cost thousands of dollars a month, they relieve financial pressure on working parents. Beyond universal childcare, Mamdani has not yet advanced a detailed children’s agenda. But there is one exception: His platform calls for “an end to mayoral control.” If he is going to deliver better outcomes for New York’s children, he should reconsider and instead fight to retain... Before 2002, when then-new Mayor Mike Bloomberg successfully lobbied the State Legislature to grant the City’s chief executive ultimate responsibility for the nation’s largest public school system, a seven-member Board of Education was responsible... The mayor appointed two members, with the other five appointed by borough presidents. In addition, 32 locally elected Community School Boards hired 32 local district superintendents accountable to the school boards, not the chancellor.

These superintendents hired principals and oversaw local budgets and curriculum decisions. The system was designed to give agency to communities ill-served by the central bureaucracy — a goal consistent with Mamdani’s today — but it did not serve children well. Instead, we saw decades of stagnant student achievement, low graduation rates, racially disparate outcomes and endemic, embarrassing corruption. Chancellors lacked the tools to drive change in failing local districts. And with seven bosses appointed by six different elected officials, it was difficult for chancellors to set clear priorities and a coherent vision. Worst of all, most New Yorkers took this dysfunction for granted.

Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani is proposing to reduce the mayor’s control over New York City’s schools and instead create a co-governance model that shares authority with parents, educators, and local councils. Supporters see this as a step toward greater accountability and inclusion, while critics warn it could lead to “confusion and chaos.” Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari, AQE’s co-executive director, acknowledged that changing the current system will take... Sign up for Chalkbeat New York’s free daily newsletter to get essential news about NYC’s public schools delivered to your inbox. Zohran Mamdani campaigned on ending mayoral control of New York City’s public school system — by far his most significant education promise. As debate intensifies over whether the mayor-elect should follow through on that pledge, a significant shift has flown under the radar: Under Mayor Eric Adams, the chief executive’s power over the school system has... On paper, the city’s mayor still exerts near-complete authority over the city’s schools.

The mayor hires and fires the head of the school system and appoints a majority of the school board, known as the Panel for Educational Policy, or PEP. But from his first months in office, Adams struggled to manage the board, which voted against several administration proposals. During his term, state lawmakers diluted the mayor’s power, adding new parent representatives to the panel while preventing the mayor from removing appointees who vote against the administration’s proposals.

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