Gov. Hochul on Tuesday proposed a four-year extension of Mayor Mamdani’s control of the New York City public schools, after the mayor backed off a campaign promise to end the much-debated educational reform.
The length of the renewal, if approved by the state Legislature, could mean that Mamdani will retain control over the schools, without any significant changes to the system, for at least his full first term as mayor.
The governor included the continuation as part of her larger budget proposal, meaning it may not be subjected to the same flurry of hearings and open debates that often happen when the extension is handled outside of the budget process. Mayoral control has no fiscal impact.
City Hall referred the Daily News to Mamdani’s past comments on the topic.
Mamdani ran for mayor on a promise to end mayoral control, saying that it shut parents and teachers out of shared decision-making about their children’s education. But he did not offer an alternative vision of school governance, only assuring voters that he would not return to corrupt ways of the past.
On the day before he was sworn in as mayor, Mamdani used his control over the schools to appoint a new chancellor, telling reporters that he planned to ask the state for a continuation but make changes to the system.
“New Yorkers need to know where the buck stops: With me,” Mamdani said on Dec. 31 in Harlem.
None of the reforms he’s proposed so far — doubling down on parent coordinators and making school meetings easier for parents to attend — immediately appeared to require state authorization.
Progressive advocates had hoped Mamdani would seek a short-term extension of mayoral control, while policy experts considered more sweeping changes to the system. They also called for the renewal to be handled outside of the budget process and involve a full discussion of its impact.
New York City mayors have controlled the school system since the early 2000s.
