Filling in the Blanks on Mamdani’s Education Agenda

Although education wasn’t one of the hot topics in the mayoral race, it will soon become a topic of great interest to the thousands of parents, students, teachers and staff who depend on the city’s public school system. If Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani seeks to retain control of the city’s public schools (and I hope he revisits his ill-considered proposal to undo the accountability reform established in 2002), he can use his office to have an impact that will benefit 900,000 students and their families. 

I have been involved with New York’s public schools for several decades as a researcher, an advisor to district leaders, and as a parent of two students who graduated. Although I now live in Los Angeles, I continue to follow what happens in the city and the district closely. I therefore offer these comments in the constructive spirit of one who hopes to be helpful.

Like many others, I am excited by the prospect of Mamdani’s mayoralty and the possibility that he will succeed in making New York a city that works better for all of its residents. His campaign was brilliant, but as many of us know, running the City will be harder than running a successful campaign. 

The challenges facing the school system are especially formidable. More than 100,000 students — more than a tenth of those enrolled — face chronic housing instability. Additionally, for a variety of reasons, enrollment is declining, and as it does, the system will lose funding that is tied to per-pupil attendance. Several schools are severely under-enrolled, and because so few children attend them, the Department of Education can no longer provide adequate educational opportunities and services to the children who remain. Several schools in the city’s poorest communities face high teacher turnover, chronic absenteeism and poor academic performance. Several others are in high demand and unable to accommodate those who desperately want access. Finally, while test scores in reading and math have shown significant improvement in recent years (though they remain lower than pre-pandemic levels in 2019), the question remains: How will recent growth be sustained? Furthermore, how will New York’s schools prepare students to have the skills needed in a labor market that is likely to be upended by the advent of artificial intelligence? 

It is widely known that the mayor is likely to encounter fierce opposition as he implements many aspects of his affordability agenda. For this reason, it would be wise if he can avoid allowing education to become a source of conflict and controversy. He should strive to ensure that education reform is not contentious.

Here are 12 of the most important steps he can take to move the system forward while minimizing conflict:

1. Retain mayoral control. Although he may be tempted to shift control to elected school boards or other entities, I recommend that Mamdani seek to retain control in order to avoid the political conflict that has bogged down other large urban districts. Mayor Bloomberg used mayoral control to generate private-sector support for the public schools and promote innovation. Mamdani can go further while at the same time delegating more authority to local community boards and the PEP to ensure public accountability.
2. Retain Melissa Aviles-Ramos as chancellor. The current chancellor is just 43 years old — but as a former teacher, principal, superintendent and chief of staff to a previous chancellor, she has more experience than most of the individuals who have served in this role. She is well respected inside and outside the system. Mamdani would be wise to keep her in place; doing so would in no meaningful way impinge on his ability to execute his agenda. 
3. End the charter school wars. In recent years, previous mayors have spent too much time on the question of precisely what role charter schools should play in the five boroughs. Mamdani should accept that 150,000 students are being educated in these schools because their parents have deemed them to be a good fit for their kids — and thousands more want the opportunity to attend.Some of the city’s charters produce excellent results. They should be allowed to thrive and encouraged to collaborate with struggling public schools rather than being made into piñatas by the mayor. One way to demonstrate a new approach is to allow charter schools seeking to co-locate in public schools that have sufficient room to be welcomed to do so by City Hall and Tweed.
4. Expand performance-based assessments. "Currently, only 38 public high schools are permitted to substitute long-form projects and other performance-based assessments for most of the Regents exams required for graduation. Evidence shows that these schools outperform schools with similar demographics on a number of measures, including the SAT. Performance-based standards create an opportunity for innovative teaching and learning that is attractive to students and parents and teach higher-order thinking skills that will be even more important as artificial intelligence eliminates many of the current jobs. More schools should be granted these waivers from the state Regents exams when they demonstrate the ability to implement the standards effectively.
5. Sustain Mayor Adams’ reading initiative and expand it to higher grades. NYC Reads, the phonics-based reading initiative that began under Eric Adams and Chancellor David Banks, has demonstrated progress in the form of significant increases in fourth-grade reading and math scores. To sustain these gains and improve outcomes in the upper grades, Mamdani should avoid being drawn into curriculum wars over literacy, sustain efforts to train teachers in these strategies and ensure that literacy efforts for middle and high school focus on a broader range of skills, including writing, research and public speaking. To sustain these gains and improve outcomes in the upper grades, Mamdani should avoid being drawn into the curriculum wars that often pit phonics against other approaches — and he will need to navigate similar ideological battles in math. Recent controversies over tracking and algebra placement show how easily expectations can be lowered when curriculum debates overshadow student needs. Ensuring that middle school math instruction systematically builds the foundation required for success in ninth-grade algebra is essential.
6. Engage other city departments in supporting schools in marginalized communities. The Harlem Children’s Zone has shown that when schools have the resources to mitigate the effects of poverty, academic outcomes can improve. The city’s Parks and Recreation Department, Health Department, its Housing Authority and possibly other agencies should be required to work closely with schools to provide social support to children and families in need. 
7. Deepen partnerships. The Children’s Aid Society, Turn Around for Children, and Good Shepherd provide vital services to schools in high poverty neighborhoods. They could do more if they worked strategically with City departments. Similarly, Education Management Organizations (EMOs) such as New Vision for Public Schools, the Urban Assembly, the Internationals Network, the Young Women’s Leadership Schools and others have demonstrated that they can help schools experience sustained success. Ultimately, the key to improving public schools in New York is to ensure that the vast resources of the city are enlisted to support them in the work they do — not for the government to try to micromanage the way to success.
8. Significantly increase starting teacher salaries. In order to retract and retain teachers, salaries must be increased substantially. Given that NY spends $42,000 per pupil, one of the highest expenditure rates in the nation, a major increase is possible if budgets are constructed from the classroom first. Auditors must ask how personnel outside of the classroom benefit the mission of the DOE which is to serve its 900,000 students. The current salary of $66K for teachers with a bachelor’s degree and $75K for teachers with a master’s degree, is barely enough to live on in NY. An affordability agenda must include the needs of teachers.
9. Leave the exam schools alone. Mamdani, who attended Bronx Science, has previously supported efforts to remake schools where entry is now determined solely by a student’s score on the Specialized High School Admissions Test. Let those students who play by the rules of the game, many of whom study on weekends for years to prepare, attend those schools. Mandami has hundreds of others to focus on and he should work to ensure that high-quality schools, both traditional publics and charters, are available in every neighborhood. Previous chancellors have gotten sidetracked by efforts aimed at diversifying enrollment at the city’s eight exam schools. It would be wise to avoid this trap and focus on expanding access to more rigorous, high-quality schools. 
10. Consolidate under-enrolled schools and create new ones. Although school closures always generate controversy, even when those targeted for closure are underperforming, if consolidation is accompanied by the creation of new schools that are able to offer a variety of attractive programs and services (e.g. dual language immersion, STEM or arts focused instruction, etc.), the effects of closures will be offset by the excitement generated by the opening of new and better schools. It might also be possible to lease the land of closed schools to build affordable housing.
11. Conduct an audit of the DOE, starting with central and district-level administration. Although enrollment has declined, the size of central and district administration has remained the same. A careful examination of district operations should reveal areas where cuts can be made thoughtfully and strategically. Mamdani has said there’s money currently being wasted in the central bureaucracy and associated contracts — but cutting is easier said than done. He needs to be systematic in finding savings, and then redirect saved funds to schools. That will help kids and teachers, increase confidence in the system and make it easier for the DOE to cope with lower levels of funding in the future. 
12. Take a strategic approach to implementing free childcare. Although universal pre-k was a significant accomplishment, the rollout was rushed in many areas, resulting in uneven program quality, shortages of certified early-childhood teachers and gaps in coordination between community-based programs and DOE schools, which limited the initiative’s effectiveness for some families. As Mamdani attempts to do something more complex — offer free childcare to all families with children between the ages of six months and five years old — he should target a few communities where the need is great first. That will enable Mamdani to avoid mishaps and increase the likelihood of effective implementation. 

The time for clever social media videos is over. Now it’s time to demonstrate that he and his team can produce tangible results to improve lives. Mamdani knows he will come under attack from the Trump administration. The administration is likely to attempt to cut big portions of the $2.5 billion in federal funding the city’s schools currently receive for special education, free lunch and breakfast and other needed programs. While he should fight to retain this funding, it represents just over 6% of the DOE’s budget. The mayor will need to cultivate support from the private sector to make up for lost funding and to launch new initiatives that will make the system attractive to parents who currently choose private schools. 

He will be more likely to succeed in his efforts to raise these funds and get the city to rally around him if he is perceived as fair and reasonable, if he can avoid unnecessary conflicts, and if he demonstrates the ability to bring about steady improvement by working closely with Education Department leaders. 

The mayor has an opportunity to use his election to make New York City a model of educational innovation and success. He can do this by ensuring that his approach to educational leadership maintains a strong commitment to ensuring that children of all backgrounds have access to quality education.