天美麻豆

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter

As Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani as his new schools chancellor on Wednesday, he also reversed course on one of his main K-12 campaign pledges: He no longer plans to of the nation鈥檚 largest school system.

Instead, he will ask Albany to extend the governance model when it comes up for renewal in June. He said he will work alongside Samuels, a veteran New York City educator, toward a version of mayoral control that will 鈥渆ngage parents, teachers, and students in decision-making,鈥� Mamdani said at a press conference on the northern tip of Central Park just hours before his inauguration.

His stance on mayoral control represents a major about-face for the city鈥檚 new chief executive. But Mamdani鈥檚 views on school governance compared with other mayoral candidates, and the idea to ditch mayoral control entirely had many skeptics, especially when paired with Mamdani鈥檚 sweeping plan to build a free child care system.

Mamdani acknowledged the challenges of the massive system he鈥檚 inheriting, with its $43 billion budget, roughly 150,000 staff, and nearly 900,000 students. While literacy rates are improving, he said, nearly 45% of the city鈥檚 students in grades 3-8 remained below grade level, . Roughly And thousands of teachers are needed to meet , particularly in hard-to-staff positions for special education, bilingual education, math, and science.

He said he now realizes that New Yorkers should direct their concerns to him.

鈥淚 will be asking the legislature for a continuation of mayoral control,鈥� Mamdani said, 鈥渁nd I will also be committed with my incoming schools chancellor to ensure that the mayoral control we preside over is not the same one that New Yorkers see today.鈥�

Under the current governance model, the mayor unilaterally selects the schools chancellor and appoints the majority of the Panel for Educational Policy, a board that votes on school closures, contracts, and other major changes to Education Department regulations. The panel is typically considered a rubber stamp of mayoral priorities, though Mayor Eric Adams left some vacancies on the board, resulting in

Mamdani pledged to incorporate community involvement in a way that will not be 鈥渃eremonial or procedural, but tangible and actionable.鈥� He wants to restructure parent meetings for community education councils so that 鈥渨orking parents can actually attend them鈥� and improve awareness of these elected parent boards that oversee school zones and advise on policy. Voter turnout for these boards .

Mamdani also promised to 鈥渋mprove the parent coordinator role to be a meaningful organizer of parents, rather than an administrative coordinator reporting to a principal.鈥� The responsibilities of parent coordinators, a role created in the initial deal allowing for mayoral control, . Many do a tremendous amount of organizing already, particularly when it comes to helping homeless families, but many in the role have long complained about its low wages.

Mamdani said he chose Samuels because 鈥渢his moment demands a new generation of leadership鈥� that 鈥渦nderstands our schools鈥� and has a 鈥渢ransformative vision鈥� on how to lead them.

As superintendent of Manhattan鈥檚 District 3 stretching from the Upper West Side to part of Harlem, Samuels oversaw , combining schools with different demographics as in one of the country鈥檚 most segregated school systems. He initially used that approach , where he also spearheaded a move away from gifted and talented programs that separate kids toward schoolwide enrichment models, . Samuels started out as a teacher and principal in the Bronx.

Mamdani made clear on Wednesday that he for kindergarten students, but that he has season.

Samuels鈥� work overseeing the Adams administration鈥檚 literacy curriculum mandate, NYC Reads, led to an increase in test scores, Mamdani pointed out. Samuels also secured more than $10 million in grants across districts 3 and 13 to advance integration efforts through admissions policies, mergers, and rezonings.

鈥淓quity is not an abstract idea. It鈥檚 a set of choices we make together in policy,鈥� Samuels said. 鈥淏ut what matters is not just what we do, it鈥檚 how we do it, by listening to educators, by respecting families, by seeing students, not just as data points, but as whole people with enormous potential.鈥�

In recent weeks, some parent groups had been calling for Mamdani to maintain stability of the school system and .

Liss will be the new child care office head

Mamdani also announced that Emmy Liss will serve as executive director for the mayor鈥檚 Office of Child Care, a position that will be critical in realizing Mamdani鈥檚 pledge to bring free child care to New Yorkers.

Liss was the chief of staff for Josh Wallack, a top aide in the de Blasio administration who oversaw the Education Department鈥檚 rollout for prekindergarten for 3- and 4-year-olds

鈥淲hen I worked on the expansion of universal 3-k and pre-K, I saw firsthand what it means when city government comes together to deliver the families with the vision of universal child care,鈥� Liss said on Wednesday. 鈥淲e have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to come together again, to double down on the city鈥檚 investments and to design and implement a program that truly meets the needs of families and sustains our child care providers and educators.鈥�

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.

Did you use this article in your work?

We鈥檇 love to hear how The 74鈥檚 reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers.