Under pressure from Mayor Adams’ office, New York City’s powerful teachers union earlier this week rescinded a rule requiring mayoral candidates to spend a day teaching in a public school in order to be considered for the labor group’s coveted endorsement, the Daily News has learned.
Two mayoral hopefuls — state lawmakers Zohran Mamdani and Zellnor Myrie — had been scheduled to do school visits this month as part of their bids for the United Federation of Teachers’ backing in June’s Democratic primary, according to sources familiar with the matter.
But both stops were called off in the last minute amid concerns the whole enterprise could violate rules against politicking on school grounds, said the sources. Those cancellations came after nearly a half dozen other candidates in the mayoral race, including front-runner Andrew Cuomo, had already participated in the teaching exercise.
On Thursday, UFT spokeswoman Alison Gendar said “all regulations were followed” during the visits that did happen, but confirmed the union has scrapped its prerequisite after a demand from the mayor’s office.
“We were officially notified by the [Department of Education] on Monday that City Hall no longer wanted any mayoral candidates going into schools,” Gendar said. “State Sen. Zellnor Myrie and Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani had both agreed to spend time in schools, but their visits were canceled because of City Hall’s decision.”
Gendar said Mamdani and Myrie will not be dinged for not being able to participate.
Reps for Mamdani and Myrie declined to comment. Adams’ office referred comment to a DOE spokeswoman, who said candidates for elected office generally aren’t allowed to be on school grounds for the purposes of political endorsements.
The union requirement, rolled out in March with the Department of Education’s help to identify classrooms, was plugged as a way for UFT President Michael Mulgrew to stand up for his members as he faces his own difficult reelection to lead the UFT. Candidates were required to spend at least seven periods in a public school to better understand the jobs of teachers and paraprofessionals, according to a union press release.
Before dropping out of the Democratic mayoral primary amid fallout from his federal indictment, Adams declined in March to take part in the UFT’s classroom exercise, according to a source directly familiar with the matter.
The UFT seal of approval is one of the last remaining union endorsements that could shake up the mayor’s race. Several others have gone to Cuomo, who has historically clashed with the UFT over charter schools and other issues.
The cancellation of Mamdani’s visit came even though Mulgrew claimed in a recent TV appearance that the socialist assemblyman had participated in the process.
“They all went and taught, and from my conversations and other information I received, they actually had an eye-opening experience,” Mulgrew said on Fox5 after naming Mamdani and Cuomo, among other candidates. “We told them this is a prerequisite … We won’t even consider you unless you do it.”
Whitney Tilson, a Democratic mayoral candidate not seeking the UFT’s endorsement — he is instead running on a promise to expand charter schools — took aim at the union for the blunder.
“It’s no surprise that they would think the rules don’t apply to them,” Tilson told The News. “The bigger scandal remains that the UFT and the career politicians in its pocket have sacrificed our kids’ futures for the benefit of the adults in the public school system.”
The UFT is expected to hold a mayoral candidate forum Saturday.
