Give our best students a proper path to success
Manhattan: Highly gifted students are the closest things we have to superheroes. These students can do mathematics at a college level before learning to ride a bike. They can memorize hundreds of lines of poetry with one scan. There is no reason to demur their education.
New York City has one of the least functional Gifted and Talented programs in the United States. Reform is needed in the NYC system and nationally. If we can engender our gifted students with an education that meets their needs, we will be provided with a fleet of change-makers who can solve the world’s most intractable problems. Four changes are needed: 1) Stop testing for giftedness at age 4. These tests should be administered closer to age 12 or 13 to account for ambition and later-developed aptitudes. 2) Parents should not play a role in enrolling gifted students. Their interests are inherently conflicted; school systems should identify students with capacity via administration of an equitable exam, and the most extremely talented students should be placed in an advanced program. 3) Gifted programs need to acknowledge giftedness in the arts. We must invest in finding the Shakespeares, Stanley Kubricks, Jean-Michel Basquiats and Mozarts of the next generation. 4) No more admittance of “marginal students.” These programs should only include the students who so significantly exceed the baseline of their peers that a traditional education not only is underutilizing their skills, but is a hamper to their productivity.
This issue can’t wait. We need to design a system to accommodate the most talented children today in order for those students to change the world tomorrow. Jasper Gould
The sky won’t fall
Manhattan: I find it shameful that the Daily News has gone into full Chicken Little mode against Zohran Mamdani, calling on New Yorkers to close ranks against him and elect a disgraced has-been who has “experience” doing harm (“Andrew Cuomo for mayor,” editorial, Oct. 26). Mamdani champions human dignity, safety and the opportunity to thrive for all New Yorkers. He offers practical — yes, practical! — programs to accomplish this agenda, and will tap the best and brightest, without prejudice, to enact them. Stop the fear-mongering. Janet Barnhart
Ignored issue
Brooklyn: Mamdani does not respond to requests from the NYC Organization of Public Service Retirees for a discussion of issues impacting older adults. How can he be a mayor for all people when he disregards a large segment of the population? He does not support the Intro 1096 bill that protects in writing the health benefits for the city retirees who served at lower pay for years to obtain these benefits. This bill is not even brought up for a vote by Adrienne Adams, speaker of the City Council, who also does not support it. Jessica Balter
Busted?
Stony Point, N.Y.: If Mamdani is elected and somehow pulls free buses out of his back pocket, does my company in Rockland County still have to pay an MTA tax? Something seems out of line here. Rob Riccardelli
Enemy on the ballot
High Bridge, N.J.: Too many New Yorkers have been smoking those funny cigarettes lately. How else can you explain the current scenario? A job candidate comes into your office and proceeds to dazzle you with his smile, charisma, oratory and potential. You ask for his resume and he has none. Then you hire him? That’s what’s happening next Tuesday when the impossible becomes reality — Mamdani, totally unqualified and most likely a communist, becomes your mayor. On record, he’s for attacking capitalism, billionaires, white people, cops, supermarkets and the need for prisons. And just yesterday, we heard his father in a 2022 video equate Abraham Lincoln to Adolf Hitler! I worked and lived in New York for more than 40 years. The decent, smart and hardworking people in the city deserve a better future. Say no to a modern-day Fidel Castro, who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor until eventually, everyone became poor. Dennis Ferrere
No two ways
Far Rockaway: Mamdani reminds me of a passage of Scripture given to me from my minister (sister): “A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8). Ora Reed
Don’t count him out
Merrick, L.I.: In 1970, New York voters were electing a U.S senator. Rockefeller Republican Charles Goodell was running against Democrat Richard Ottinger. Goodell was seen as too moderate by much of the GOP and conservatives, so they convinced businessman James Buckley, brother of conservative icon William F. Buckley, to run as the Conservative Party candidate. Political observers, the media community and pollsters gave Buckley little chance. But on Election Day, there were a lot of black eyes. Buckley won with 38.2% of the vote to Ottinger’s 36.7% — a less than 2% victory. Goodell came in third. The liberal vote was split. To all the experts telling us that Curtis Sliwa can’t win, maybe you all should wait until next Wednesday. Michael Apo
Subway guardian
Camden, N.J.: I should say, being an outsider and taking a sneak peek looking in, that many times I view New York City through rose-colored glasses. For that reason, from his young adult days, Sliwa appeared very dandy and dapper before the media as he and his self-proclaimed troops battled all villains that were during his personal stop-the-violence campaign. He was absolutely beautiful with NYC then. The entire nation looked up at him. Nowadays, reported assaults on the subways continue to be pathetic. He is surely needed. Wayne E. Williams
Korea’s kingmaking
Auburndale: Did South Korea give President Trump a golden crown to mock him or to troll the American people? Or do they want to crown him in their own country? Cathi Venis
Going nuclear
Manhattan: Trump is calling for the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing for the first time in more than 30 years. It looks like he’s ramping up his efforts to win the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. Enrico Rizzo
Make it work
North Branford, Conn.: Why is the president not doing his prime job of seeing that the United States government functions smoothly? He should demand that our current fiscal mess be set right. From his actions, he probably doesn’t have a clue that people are starving and/or working without pay. His place now is to forget lobbying for tariffs and sit in on a joint meeting of the full House and Senate and stay there until this nonsense ends. Stephen Syrotiak
Stop payment
Aiken, S.C.: I recently watched an interview on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show with Sen. Lindsey Graham requesting support from the public on a new bill he’s submitting to curb elected officials from having government shutdowns. Graham suggested that politicians should not get a paycheck when shutting down our government. Sean made light of the situation about Graham getting a paycheck, but Graham responded that he’s giving his pay to a charity, which you don’t hear every day. I wrote about this previously and suggested that all personnel in positions that are a necessity, like the military, federal law enforcement, Social Security administrators and air traffic controllers, should have a bill that exempts them from being used as pawns by a bunch of soulless radicals who aren’t representing the people’s best interest. I suggest calling the senator’s office or writing to give him the support he asked for. Gregory J. Topliff
Pennies for the poor
Brooklyn: I received a notice from the Social Security office. The cost of living adjustment for 2026 is 2.8%. The people who decided this must be high on something — 2.8% is not even close to the increase I or anyone I know is experiencing. I texted and spoke to as many people as I could find to see if they agree with SSI. One-third said a big no. Another third said that it is just not possible. The rest have ways of expressing themselves such as, “Why does the government lie to us? Aren’t they embarrassed to say 2.8?” No one — and I mean no one — believes that. I would love to see exactly how they estimate the COLA, and maybe one of our representatives could explain it, because I just don’t get it. That $79 a month I will get doesn’t even cover one of the many increases in basic services I received this year. The average increase is just $50 a month. Sad, very sad. Greg Ahl
