Zohran Mamdani’s Vision for Transforming New York City’s $40 Billion Public School System

In New York City, mayoral legacies are often defined by their management of two pivotal agencies: the Police Department and the public schools, both impacting millions of residents.

Zohran Mamdani, currently leading the race to become the city’s next mayor, has presented a comprehensive plan to reform policing. However, his detailed strategy for overseeing the nation’s largest public school district remains less developed as the general election approaches.

One of Mamdani’s most notable proposals involves scaling back mayoral authority over the city’s 1,500-plus public schools. Unlike many other large cities, New York’s mayor holds substantial control over education policy. Mamdani advocates replacing this centralized model with greater decision-making power for teachers and parents.

He has also moderated his stance on controversial admissions exams used by eight selective public high schools, stepping back from calls to abolish these tests entirely.

The incoming mayor will face significant challenges amid federal threats to school funding, persistently low literacy rates, a troubling rise in student absences, and pronounced disparities in academic outcomes between affluent and low-income students.

Despite the scale of the city’s public education system, which serves 900,000 students and commands a $40 billion budget—accounting for over a third of municipal spending—discussion of schools was largely absent from most candidates’ campaigns during the recent Democratic primary.