Equity or mediocrity? Mamdani would phase out gifted classes in early grades
- Joanne Jacobs
- Oct 3
- 2 min read
If elected mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani would end gifted and talented programs for kindergarten students and adopt a plan to phase out gifted classes in elementary schools, reports the New York Times.
White and Asian students are 35 percent of public school enrollment in New York City, but 70 percent of gifted classes.
Mamdani "has not yet articulated a clear vision for schools," write Emma G. Fitzsimmons and Troy Closson. "Instead, he has emphasized his plan to establish free universal child care for children from 6 weeks to 5 years old."
Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent, and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa said they would expand gifted programs, reports Alex Zimmerman on Chalkbeat. "Gifted programs are widely seen as a method for keeping middle class and white families in public schools," he writes. "Many Asian American families and other families of color also see them as a pathway into higher-performing schools that may be in short supply in their neighborhoods."
An Education Department survey found many parents who left the city’s schools in 2022-23 wanted more rigorous instruction, Cuomo noted. “The answer isn’t to say good riddance to those families. Eliminating opportunities for excellence doesn’t help underserved kids, it perpetuates the problem.”
If Mamdani raises taxes in whiter, more affluent neighborhoods and decreases opportunities for high-achieving students, I do think the message is "good riddance." Families who need lots of social services will stay. Free child care! (That will take a lot of tax money that could be spent on K-12.) Those who want their children to excel will leave.
Mamdani's campaign waffled on whether he'd try to change test-based admissions for the city's most selective high schools, which admit a high proportion of Asian-American students, but few Black and Latino students. "The Mamdani campaign previously indicated he would order a study of racial and gender bias in the admissions test," writes Zimmerman. "In a separate 2022 questionnaire before he ran for mayor, Mamdani said the test should be abolished." This week, a spokesman said Mamdani would keep the test.
As a child, Mamdani, 33, attended a very expensive private school in K-8, then qualified for the Bronx High School of Science, a highly selective public high school.
"Equity" advocates say it's unfair to have special programs for high achievers. Every school should be excellent for all students. And that would be nice.
Seattle Public Schools is phasing out "highly capable cohort" schools by the 2027-2028 school year because of racial disparities in demographics. The district will prioritize "equity."
Bruce Smith: " ... New York City is highly unusual in separating out 'gifted' kids as early as kindergarten, a policy that educationally stronger cities don't follow ..."
The Chinese government identifies talent early and nurtures it.
Markets and federalism institutionalize humility on the part of State (i.e., government, generally) actors. If a difference over policy turns on a question of fact, where "What works?" is an empirical question, markets (the system of title and contract law) and federalism (many local policy regimes) will supply more valid and reliable answers than will Divine (bureaucratic) Inspiration.
If a difference over policy turns on a question of taste, fact, markets and federalism leave room for the expression of varied tastes, while the…
"Equity" is generally bad news as a defence of an education policy, since the world has no broad agreement on defining fairness; but New York City is highly unusual in separating out "gifted" kids as early as kindergarten, a policy that educationally stronger cities don't follow, and can delay the beginning of such separation beyond the third grade starting point planned by Mr Mamdani (whose parents appear to have had a better educational strategy than he has, since New York's mayor lacks the power to raise taxes, and its existing deficit will render his child care [and other] spending policies infeasible).