Mamdani under fire over NYC schools as critics say mayor is devoid of education agenda despite $38B budget
Ten months into New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s term, education advocates tell Fox News Digital that the democratic socialist mayor is falling short of delivering on the education promises he made during his campaign.
"It's not good enough to be the TikTok mayor for 900,000 New York City public school students and their families," said David Bloomfield, former general counsel for the New York City Board of Education.
"We need movement, not just words."
Mamdani, who campaigned on a progressive education platform, was expected to make significant changes to the city's struggling public school system, but education advocates argue that his first 10 months in office have produced few substantive changes to K-12 education.
"Mayor Mamdani has not addressed education adequately," Bloomfield said. "Ten months into his administration, there is no real overwhelming education agenda or, particularly, regarding racial segregation or enrollment decline and school mergers … We're really hearing nothing out of the administration."
"Most people who are involved in education advocacy and many parents are disappointed because they really expected a big shift from the last administration. Mamdani ran on a very progressive agenda overall, a kind of activist agenda, and yet we haven't seen many changes from the Adams administration in terms of K-12 education," said Class Size Matters founder Leonie Haimson.
Bloomfield, a professor emeritus at Brooklyn College, argued that Mamdani's administration has yet to establish a comprehensive strategy for addressing declining enrollment, racial segregation, overcrowded classrooms and other issues facing the Big Apple’s public school system.
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"[Mamdani] is continuing mayoral control of New York City public schools, but without a real agenda," Bloomfield told Fox News Digital.
New York City’s public schools operate under mayoral control, giving Mamdani broad authority over the system and its leadership, including Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels.
New York City has allocated a $38.6 billion budget to its public schools, which serve nearly one million students. The city spends 50% more per student than Los Angeles and Chicago, the country's other two largest school districts, according to a New York Post analysis.
Bloomfield questioned whether the city is directing funding where it is most needed. He said funding continues to support schools with declining enrollment, while overcrowded campuses "bursting at the seams" struggle to accommodate their student populations.
"Money will go a long way to solving the education problem in New York," said Bloomfield. "The problem, though, where does that money go? How is that money used?"
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Haimson, a longtime education advocate who fights for smaller class sizes in New York City, criticized Mamdani's sudden loss of momentum on overcrowded classrooms.
A New York state law, signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul and supported by Mamdani when he was a state assemblyman, requires New York City public schools to limit class sizes to between 20 and 25 students, depending on grade level. Mamdani has sought a two-year extension of the compliance deadline, which would push full implementation to 2030.
"The one thing he was most enthusiastic about was lowering class sizes and complying with the class size law. And yet, as soon as he got elected, he decided he wanted an extension," Haimson told Fox News Digital.
"I expected that they would come out with a real plan on how that space would be created, and they have not done so," she added.
Haimson said Mamdani’s education agenda remains limited compared with his broader campaign platform, arguing that his approach to K-12 schools has largely mirrored that of his predecessor, former New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
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Bloomfield echoed Haimson’s argument, saying that unlike Adams and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Mamdani lacks a clear education agenda.
"I think there's disappointment. People want change," he said. "Change is necessary, whether it's in terms of race … quality education, reading scores, math scores. There really is a need for improvement, and yet we're hearing nothing out of City Hall or the Department of Education."
During his first six months in office, Adams issued 21 press releases related to K-12 education — including announcements about expanding the gifted and talented program and introducing dyslexia screening — compared with Mamdani's 11 releases during the corresponding period, according to an analysis by Chalkbeat.
While Haimson credited Mamdani with launching the city’s first 2-K initiative, which expands early education and childcare to 2-year-olds through a partnership with Hochul, she said the administration has paid little attention to students older than five.
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"He really hasn't taken much interest in anything that relates to education once the child turns 5 years old," she said. "And of course, there's many, many years of schooling that make a huge difference in a child's life after the age of 5."
Both Haimson and Bloomfield told Fox News Digital that Mamdani and Samuels must make K-12 education a more prominent priority for the administration and develop a clearer strategy for addressing persistent challenges.
"I'd like him … to pay more attention to K-12 education, because he did get mayoral control renewed, and it really is one of the top responsibilities of mayors in this city is to make sure that New York City kids are getting a good education," Haimson said.
"We really need either the chancellor, Kamar Samuels, or the mayor himself to step up," Bloomfield added.
Neither Mamdani nor Samuels responded to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.