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 former Mayors Mike Bloomberg and Bill de Blasio and current Hizzoner Eric Adams.
“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 co-governance,” his campaign platform says.
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 fought to reduce the mayor’s authority over the school system.
“I’ve seen this as something the union was also advocating for in the past … a changing of the composition of the board,” Mamdani said.
Education experts questioned Mamdani’s approach.
“It would be a terrible mistake to take away the mayor’s majority on the Panel for Education Policy,” said Ray Domanico, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a veteran researcher who previously worked in the city public school system.
The biggest advancements in New York City education systems were during the first 12 years of mayoral control under Bloomberg, when low-performing schools were closed and replaced with charter schools and other smaller, experimental schools, Domanico said.
Mamdani also is out of touch with the working class and low-income parents he claims to represent who enroll their kids in charter schools, he argued.
“Mamdani is not a fan of charter schools. He’s a fan of the teachers’ union,” Domanico said.
Hunter College urban affairs professor Joseph Viteritti, who served as senior adviser to Schools Chancellor Frank Macchiorola, opposed diluting the mayor’s authority over the school system, too.
“You need to focus on accountability and responsibility somewhere. It gives the mayor a direct stake in the process,” Viteritti said.
He said proper checks can be put in place on the PEP without diluting City Hall’s responsibility for schools.
CUNY Graduate Center education Professor David Bloomfield said Mamdani “doesn’t seem to have a thought-through policy” on schools, as he does in other areas.
He said mayoral control is better than “education by committee.”
But Mamdani, if he’s elected, could be more inclusive in his decision-making by having an open search to select the next schools chancellor, instead of making a unilateral choice, Bloomfield said.
Mamdani has said the mayor should still appoint the schools chancellor, as is the case now, and that ultimately the mayor is responsible for educating students.
The leading candidate insisted he didn’t want to return to the much-maligned city Board of Education, when the mayor had two of seven appointments. He also insisted his goal was to get more parents and educators engaged in school policy through various advisory boards, such as community education councils.
The state law on New York City school governance is up for renewal next June.
During a private meeting with tech executives last week, an attendee who is a charter-school parent asked Mamdani about his position on the popular alternative to public schools.
Mamdani said he is “skeptical” of charter schools, citing “equity” issues and higher suspension rates for their students — though many charter-school students are poor or working class.
“I agree with your assessment that public education, for the most part, is not working as it should be,” he told the parent.
He told the tech executives that he’s interested in “efficiency” and curbing costly consultant contracts awarded by the city Department of Education.
A rep for Mayor Eric Adams called Mamdani’s proposed to undo mayoral control of schools “reckless and irresponsible.
“It would take us back to a time when New York City’s school system was mired in dysfunction, with no clear accountability and no one in charge,” Adams campaign spokesman Todd Shapiro said.
“While Mamdani talks about pulling power from the mayor, Mayor Adams is focused on keeping our kids learning, safe, and supported. He fought to extend mayoral control because he believes one person should be responsible — and that person is the mayor New Yorkers elect.”
In general, education has gotten short shrift during the mayoral campaign with little talk about a drop in enrollment, high absenteeism and stagnant test scores, the school watchdogs said.
