NEW YORK (BLOOMBERG) -- New York mayoral front-runner and Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani said he wants to end the city’s gifted and talented program for kindergarten students in public schools, wading into a contentious issue weeks before the election.
The 33-year old democratic socialist, in answering questions from the New York Times, said he would embrace former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s 2021 plan to phase out the program from elementary schools if elected in November. Mayor Eric Adams expanded the program during his term, while making changes to the admissions process.
“I will return to the previous policy,” Mamdani told the newspaper. “Ultimately, my administration would aim to make sure that every child receives a high-quality early education that nurtures their curiosity and learning.”
In a statement to Bloomberg, a spokeswoman for Mamdani said that he would end the program just for kindergarteners, saying 5-year-olds “should not be subjected to a singular assessment that unfairly separates them right at the beginning of their public school education.”
The program has been criticized for contributing to segregation in New York City, with White and Asian students being overrepresented, according to the city’s Independent Budget Office. It was previously based on an admissions test taken mostly by 4-year-olds, and under the Adams administration shifted to a system in which students are first screened and recommended to the program by pre-K teachers, and then awarded a seat by lottery.
Mamdani’s plan to end the program drew criticism from former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent and polling in second place. He said parents want more opportunities for rigorous instruction and are leaving the city as a result.
“If there are tens of thousands of applications for limited G&T spots, parents are telling you something: They want more of it, not less,” Cuomo said in a statement. “The answer isn’t to say good riddance to those families. If there are issues with how young children are selected, then fix that and expand opportunities — give more at the start of education and more on-ramps later. Don’t eliminate the program.”
A May 2024 PLACE NYC Admissions Survey of more than 450 public school parents found that almost 70% of those who applied to kindergarten opposed using teacher recommendations and a lottery system for G&T placement, citing an “overly subjective selection process” that resulted in a watering-down of the curriculum. Many asked to resume the use of “developmentally appropriate” kindergarten screening.
Mamdani and Cuomo also clash over the existence of charter schools and mayoral control of the New York school system. Mamdani has argued that mayoral control is a means to “steamroll over any kind of critique or concern” with school policy. “It has pushed students, teachers, parents out of so many of the decisions that they then bear the burden of,” Mamdani said earlier this week at a mayoral candidate forum.
Cuomo is a staunch defender of mayoral control of the school system, calling it the most significant educational reform in the US in 40 years.
“Reversing mayoral control means you go back to the old system, which is basically community-based control. And what happened there was that it became very politicized,” Cuomo said in an interview with Bloomberg News.
Mamdani is also opposed to expanding the quantity of charter schools, which are tuition-free, independently operated public schools, saying they undermine the principle of universal public education.
Cuomo, meanwhile, has voiced support for adding more charter schools, telling Bloomberg he “would use charter schools as one of the vehicles where you have a failing public school.”
Still, when it comes to New York City’s coveted specialized high schools, Mamdani — a graduate of one of those schools, Bronx Science — believes in keeping the controversial exam used for admission.
Former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP, endorsed Cuomo in the primary and has contributed to a PAC supporting his candidacy. The former mayor is also a major donor to charter schools.
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