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After Zohran Mamdani’s election victory on Tuesday night, education advocates across New York City swiftly offered words of encouragement and began pitching ideas to help shape the mayor-elect’s schools agenda.
Some groups urged Mamdani to continue Mayor Eric Adams’ signature curriculum reforms. Others praised his focus on affordability and expressed excitement about his pledge for universal child care. And charter school leaders said they want to build bridges with the incoming mayor, even though the Mamdani campaign criticized the sector on the campaign trail.
Mamdani has said little about his vision for the nation’s largest school system — giving outside groups an opening to help shape his thinking. Mamdani has signaled he is willing to listen to new ideas and has pledged to give families and educators a greater voice.
On Wednesday, Mamdani announced a handful of advisors to begin his transition to City Hall. They include Melanie Hartzog, the leader of New York Foundling, which operates some early childhood and other education programs. Hartzog previously served in city government, including as a deputy mayor and top budget official under former Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Mamdani also tapped Grace Bonilla, CEO of the United Way of New York City, which also operates education programs. She previously worked in the administration of former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. None of the leaders of the transition team Mamdani announced on Wednesday have deep experience in K-12 education.
Teacher groups push to keep Adams’ signature education initiative
Under Adams, the school system made big changes to reading and math instruction, mandating specific reading programs for elementary schools and for Algebra 1 in high school. Curriculum shifts are underway at middle schools, too.
Educators for Excellence, a teacher advocacy group, said Mamdani should keep those efforts going. The group pointed to rising test scores as evidence of success, though experts have cautioned it is difficult to directly attribute the gains to the curriculum changes. Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, which endorsed Mamdani, also said he hopes the mayor-elect stays the course.
“Changing the curriculums constantly is not a good thing for us,” Mulgrew told Chalkbeat.
Mamdani has indicated he is open to keeping some of those curriculum changes in place, though he has also said teachers should have more flexibility in how they are used.
Charter leaders offer an olive branch
Mamdani has made no secret of his skepticism of charter schools, which educate about 15% of the city’s public school students, arguing they divert resources from city-run public schools. While the mayor’s power over charter schools is limited, Mamdani said he plans to conduct audits of them. (Charter schools are publicly funded but privately managed.)
Charter school leaders staged a massive rally weeks before the primary, warning of threats to the sector. But some charter leaders took a warmer tone after Mamdani’s win on Tuesday, noting that his message on affordability resonated with many families.
“We look forward to a mayor who will unite us, strengthen us and provide us the resources our children and families deserve,” James Merriman, CEO of the New York City Charter School Center, said in a statement.
Some Mamdani critics hope to work with him
Parent Leaders for Accelerated Curriculum and Education, or PLACE, has been a major critic of Mamdani’s education proposals — including ending mayoral control of schools and scrapping gifted programs that begin in kindergarten.
Yiatin Chu, the group’s co-founder, still hopes to find common ground with the mayor-elect on issues like chronic absenteeism, the state’s class size reduction mandate, and attracting more families to the public school system amid declining enrollment. (PLACE endorsed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.)
“I believe that we have the pulse on public school families,” Chu said. “Of course we would like to work with him and his chancellor.”
Education advocates praise focus on universal child care, affordability
Multiple education groups expressed excitement about one of Mamdani’s central campaign pledges: to roll out universal free child care starting when children are 6 weeks old.
The Alliance for Quality Education, an advocacy group, praised Mamdani’s focus on affordability and noted he is the first mayoral candidate the organization has ever endorsed.
“We have fought for a future where every child can learn in a well-funded school, where child care is accessible to all, and where people do not have to choose between caring for their children and paying rent or putting food on the table,” the organization’s co-directors, Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari and Marina Marcou-O’Malley, said in a statement. “We believe Zohran shares that vision.”
Union officials also cheered Mamdani’s win. Mulgrew, head of the teachers union, said he and the incoming mayor are aligned on many of the union’s priorities, including ramping up teacher hiring and boosting pay for aides who work with students with disabilities. The union chief also praised Mamdani’s comment to bolster the city’s prekindergarten program for 3-year-olds, launch free child care, and root out wasteful spending.
Still, the union chief acknowledged that it remains to be seen what Mamdani will prioritize.
“I’m not sure exactly what his signature issue is going to be,” Mulgrew said.
Alex Zimmerman is a reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Alex at azimmerman@chalkbeat.org.
