Mamdani Wins Control Of NYC School Board

NEW YORK, NY— Mayor Zohran Mamdani appointed 13 members to New York City’s Panel for Educational Policy Tuesday, giving him control over the majority of the board that will vote on major decisions affecting public schools.

The appointments fill seats previously held by former Mayor Eric Adams’ representatives and give Mamdani influence over decisions involving school policy, contracts, mergers and closures.

The 24-member panel oversees key education decisions for the nation’s largest school system.

Under state law, the mayor appoints 13 members and selects the chair from a list provided by state lawmakers.

Parent leaders appoint five members, while each borough president selects one.

Will The New Board Decide NYC’s AI Rules?

Artificial intelligence will be one of the first major issues facing Mamdani’s new education panel as the City moves closer to releasing long-awaited guidance on how schools should use the technology.

The Education Department delayed the release of its AI policy after a March draft drew widespread criticism from parents, educators and lawmakers.

Officials initially planned to release final guidelines in June, but now report the recommendations will come later this summer.

First Deputy Chancellor Danielle Giunta said the delay followed nearly 6,500 public comments on the draft and a rapidly changing national debate over artificial intelligence.

Giunta said the City is considering different expectations based on students’ ages and grade levels, with the goal of preparing older students to use AI responsibly without allowing the technology to replace their own thinking.

The draft policy used a traffic light system to categorize AI uses by risk.

It prohibited AI use for assessments and grading while allowing some classroom uses, such as helping teachers brainstorm lesson plans.

More than half of the City Council signed a letter urging Mamdani and Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels to pause AI use in schools over concerns about student learning and mental health.

Parents and advocates have also pushed for a broader moratorium on generative AI in classrooms.

Samuels has criticized the Education Department’s earlier draft, saying it “missed the mark” and calling AI the "most invasive technology that we’ve seen.”

Will The New School Board Have To Decide How To Handle Shrinking Enrollment?

Another challenge facing Mamdani’s newly appointed Panel for Educational Policy will be deciding how to respond to a school system with fewer students, but rising pressure to control costs.

Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels has warned that declining enrollment could require more school mergers and closures in the coming years.

But before those decisions reach the panel, board members will have to navigate a larger debate over how the City funds schools that are losing students.

For now, schools will not lose funding because of enrollment declines this fall.

The City will continue a pandemic-era policy known as “hold harmless,” which guarantees schools receive at least as much funding as they did the previous year, even if they have fewer students.

The policy protects schools from sudden budget cuts, but it has also become a target for fiscal watchdogs who argue the City is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to maintain funding for shrinking schools.

During a City Council budget hearing, Samuels defended continuing the policy, saying cutting the funding immediately could destabilize schools, particularly in communities already facing challenges.

“If we do remove our hold harmless funding, it would be a huge whiplash effect to schools that would have to really contend with a lot of concerns about the budget, and in some of our most vulnerable communities, they would feel the brunt of the issues,” Samuels said.

Education officials have not released the exact cost of maintaining the policy, but Chief Financial Officer Seritta Scott said the amount is expected to be hundreds of millions of dollars.

The issue could become a major test for Mamdani’s appointees, who will have a role in approving policies that shape how resources are distributed across the school system.

The debate comes as the City’s public school enrollment continues to fall.

Enrollment dropped 2.4 percent this year and is expected to decline further over the next decade.

Why Did Mamdani Keep Mayoral Control?

Mamdani’s decision to appoint a majority of the Panel for Educational Policy comes after he changed his position on one of his biggest education campaign promises: ending mayoral control of New York City schools.

During the campaign, Mamdani said he opposed the current system, arguing that parents, students and educators needed a larger role in decisions affecting schools.

He said he wanted a model built around shared decision-making rather than control from City Hall.

But shortly before taking office, Mamdani reversed course and asked state lawmakers to extend mayoral control for two years, saying the system could be changed without giving up mayoral authority.

“I want to acknowledge I have been skeptical of mayoral control in the past, even at times going as far as wanting to end the system entirely,” Mamdani said while announcing Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels on Dec. 31. “So though I have concerns about mayoral control, I also acknowledge that New Yorkers need to know where the buck stops: with me.”

The structure still gives Mamdani significant influence over the school system.

A 2022 change in state law, however, prevents mayors from removing their appointees simply because they disagree with City Hall proposals, giving members more independence once they join the panel.

Historically, mayoral appointees have often supported the mayor and schools chancellor on major votes.

Mamdani has said he wants the panel to consider community input, but the new members’ voting records will determine how much independence they exercise from City Hall.

Who Did Mamdani Appoint?

Mamdani’s 13 appointees bring experience from city government, education, nonprofit leadership, finance, community organizing and public school advocacy.

The group includes several current and former public school parents, former education officials and community leaders who have worked on issues ranging from early childhood education and school improvement to environmental justice and family engagement.

Among the new members:

• Karla Cordero leads strategic initiatives as chief of staff at WE ACT for Environmental Justice and previously spent 12 years in City government working on social services, sustainability and economic development programs.

• Tariq Khan has worked at MTA New York City Transit for nearly three decades, holding roles in budget, planning and transportation operations. The Queens resident has also spent years working with school communities and parent leaders.

• Mehrain Mahdi is an education advocate and parent leader who served on a District 2 School Leadership Team and created an after-school Spanish program. She also founded Little Leaping Leaders, an enrichment program for young girls.

• Alan Ong is a Queens community leader and former PTA president who later served as president of Community Education Council District 26.

• Amy Fair has more than 25 years of experience in higher education administration and previously served as a mayoral appointee to the Panel for Educational Policy. She also served as a Bronx Borough President appointee to Community Education Council District 11.

• Courtney Rajwani previously worked as executive director for policy development and support in the Education Department’s Division of Early Childhood Education during former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration. She now works as a managing consultant and is a parent of two city public school students.

• Crystal Vera-Montalvo leads community educational engagement at the College of Staten Island, overseeing programs including English language learning, GED preparation and adult education. She is also a parent of a city public school student.

• Marjorie Dienstag is a parent advocate who has worked on efforts to expand educational opportunities in the West Village, including support for a middle school with District 75 programming.

• Lucas Koehler is chief financial officer at the Foundation for City College and previously worked at the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget. He also helped expand the city’s early childhood education system and previously taught seventh grade math in the Bronx.

• Primo Lasana leads impact initiatives at the Forum for Youth Investment and previously served as executive director of Reading Partners. He has also held leadership roles focused on youth development and community engagement.

• Kristin Jefferson is a senior education consultant and founder of KJ-Ed Solutions. She previously worked in the Education Department’s Office of New Schools and held leadership roles focused on multilingual learners and academic programs.

• Maddy Fox is an associate professor at Brooklyn College and a researcher focused on public policy, youth engagement and community organizing. She is also a parent of two city public school students and helped lead a District 15 participatory research project during the school rezoning process.

Mamdani kept three members who served under Adams, extending their roles on the panel.

The panel will help decide issues that directly affect students, families and educators across the City.