Zohran Mamdani

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani taps child care advocates and de Blasio-era officials for his youth and education committee. Current K-12 educators and students were notably absent.

Mayor Eric Adams has lost control of New York City’s school board. He no longer has a majority of appointees, and members have rejected several proposals recently.

Last year, more than 27,000 of the city’s roughly 136,000 free child care seats for kids ages 4 and under went unfilled, about 1 in every 5 seats.

The legislation, supported by 47 of the City Council’s 51 members, would bring relief to thousands of paraprofessionals, whose starting salary is $32,000.

Here’s what experts told Chalkbeat about where the child care system stands now and what it will take to make it free for all.

Veterans of the city’s prekindergarten expansion say there are lessons for the Mamdani campaign about how to balance growing quickly with keeping the system stable.

Some groups urged Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani to continue Mayor Eric Adams’ curriculum reforms. Meanwhile, charter school leaders extended an olive branch.

When it comes to NYC public schools, Zohran Mamdani wants to end mayoral control as well as focus more on helping homeless students and students with disabilities.

Students are relying on TikTok to stay informed about this year’s mayoral election. At Mamdani’s and Cuomo’s alma maters, students are largely rooting for Mamdani.

Zohran Mamdani’s campaign convened education advocates to discuss mayoral control, school safety, charter schools, and more.

New York City’s next mayor will oversee the nation’s largest school system. Here’s where the candidates stand on mayoral control, class sizes, selective admissions, and more.

“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,” he said.

The Mamdani campaign pledged to focus on NYC’s vulnerable students in response to a Chalkbeat questionnaire. Cuomo and Sliwa did not respond.

Over more than two decades, mayors have appointed new school chiefs after taking office in an effort to take the system in a different direction. Mamdani might buck the trend.

As mayoral candidates debate the future of NYC’s gifted and talented classes, a new Chalkbeat analysis shows that low enrollment in programs is costing the city millions.

Mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani proposed a plan to recruit 1,000 teachers annually for New York City schools, offering tuition assistance in exchange for a three-year commitment.

Mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani has reignited the debate over gifted and talented in NYC. New data reveals the program is becoming more diverse, but challenges remain.

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa immediately denounced Mamdani’s proposals and said they would expand gifted programs.

Cuomo has pressed his case in recent weeks for expanding the charter sector, closing low-performing schools, and adding new specialized programs.

The frontrunner to be the city’s next mayor has not committed to releasing a detailed vision for the city’s public schools before the election.