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Move over, DOGE.
Zohran Mamdani wants to reclaim the mantle of government efficiency — and he’s targeting the city Education Department’s $41 billion budget.
On Tuesday, the mayoral frontrunner zeroed in on the school system’s contracting process, which he said is slow, poorly managed, and rife with wasteful spending.
“For too long, we have allowed individuals like Elon Musk to pretend as if concerns of efficiency and waste are that of the right wing, when in fact, they should be the bedrock of any progressive politics,” Mamdani told reporters. Musk spearheaded the Department of Government Efficiency under President Donald Trump, an effort to slash government programs.
Mamdani’s plan would “overhaul procurement infrastructure across the DOE,” he said. Contracts with outside vendors represent about $10 billion of the Education Department’s budget.
The announcement on Tuesday was the second education proposal his campaign has rolled out in recent weeks. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent, has repeatedly called out Mamdani for not releasing a more detailed education plan.
As the largest city agency, the Education Department is a frequent target of politicians who contend the public school system isn’t generating outcomes for students in line with its spending. Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa recently vowed to slash $10 billion from the department’s budget, roughly 42% of the city’s contribution to the public school system.
Mamdani acknowledged that many contracts are “essential” and indicated his goal is to root out duplicative spending and plow those dollars back into classrooms rather than slash the system’s budget.
If elected, Mamdani said he would conduct annual audits of the department’s 50 biggest vendors and 25 largest contracts, establish “procurement hubs” in every borough, and require that the department use the same online system for vendors as other city agencies.
Focusing on Education Department spending could help the mayoral frontrunner and Democratic nominee find money for other new programs he’s proposed. Though he has promised to push for tax increases on businesses and the rich to finance some of his most ambitious campaign proposals, he also acknowledged that he may need to find money for new programs within the city’s existing budget. When he unveiled a $12 million teacher recruitment effort earlier this month, he suggested it would be financed by cutting waste.
Mamdani did not indicate how much money he anticipates saving by improving the procurement process, only saying it would lead to a 10% reduction in “redundant spending.” He added the plan would reduce the city’s reliance on emergency procurement procedures and speed up the contracting process.
Mamdani did not offer many examples of duplicative contracts. When asked by a reporter for specific cases, he pointed to hundreds of millions worth of technology purchases during the pandemic, noting the Education Department did not carefully track those devices.
“These were contracts that the DOE entered into without any kind of a system of coordinating inventory,” Mamdani said.
The proposal won praise from the city’s teachers union. “Fixing this tangled mess is long overdue,” United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew said in a statement. He called the procurement system “a chronic source of frustration.” (The union endorsed Mamdani in the general election.)
Some budget experts said it is encouraging that Mamdani is focusing on the issue.
“This is an astronomically complex and large system and is likely that there is duplication and inefficiency within that,” said Ana Champeny, the vice president for research at the Citizens Budget Commission, a watchdog group. The “monumental challenge,” Champeny said, is “how do you start identifying that and ensure you get the best bang for your buck?”
Pruning contracts can lead to significant outcry. When the Adams administration cut $60 million from the Education Department’s food budget, which is largely fulfilled by contractors, schools were forced to yank popular food items from cafeterias, drawing backlash from students. Many of the items were eventually restored.
Other observers noted that Mamdani’s focus on reforming the contracting process could be an effort to reassure middle class and higher-income voters that he will be a responsible steward of the city’s budget. It is also popular with the city’s teachers union, as it directs possible cuts away from their members, said Jonathan Collins, a professor of political science and education at Columbia University Teachers College.
Still, Collins said it’s unclear how the procurement reforms fit into Mamdani’s broader thinking about how to improve the city’s school system. Mamdani has recently released proposals across very different topics, from improving teacher recruitment to phasing out gifted programs for the city’s youngest students.
“We’ve been wanting to see how these different ideas fit together and instead he’s been pivoting from one idea to another,” Collins said.
Alex Zimmerman is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Alex at azimmerman@chalkbeat.org.
