NYC public schools' Gifted & Talented program takes center stage in mayor's race. Here's where the candidates stand.
New York City mayoral candidate Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani says, if elected, he plans to end the city's Gifted and Talented program for the youngest learners.
The selective program caters to roughly 2,500 students in the nation's largest public school system, and it has sparked debate for years.
Mamdani's plan for the Gifted & Talented program
Mamdani's plan would eliminate the program for kindergarten students, ages 5 and under. He would, however, keep the program in place for grades one through five.
The Democratic nominee and current frontrunner in the polls said he believes the program unfairly separates children at a young age. Instead, he's pledging a free, universal child care system that he says will benefit all students.
"It is incredibly important for us to deliver excellent quality public education for each and every New Yorker and that for kindergarteners we should not have a Gifted and Talented program that is separating them on the basis of that assessment," Mamdani said.
A video on Mamdani's campaign website says more than 80% of New York families with children under 5 cannot afford child care in the city, which he says cost the economy more than $20 billion in the last few years.
"My administration will address this crisis by providing no-cost child care to families with children as young as 6 weeks up until they're 5 years of age," Mamdani says in the video. "To do this, we'll open more centers, using city space to open more centers, co-locating with the DOE wherever possible, subsidizing commercial rent and easing the regulatory burden to make it easier to get permits."
His universal child care plan also calls for paying early childhood educators wages that are on par with Department of Education employees, supporting existing centers and subsidizing at-home care.
CLICK HERE for a closer look at Mamdani's campaign policies.
Cuomo and Sliwa respond
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani, shot down his opponent's plan for the Gifted and Talented program Thursday, calling it a "giant step back" for public education in the city.
"That program is the one program that allows extraordinary students to actually excel. You take away [the] Gifted and Talented program... The one possibility that your child might get a really first class education in public schools goes with it," said Cuomo.
Cuomo added he wants to double the number of specialized high schools from nine to 18.
"Because we want people who want extraordinary education staying in New York," he said.
Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa responded on social media, calling himself the "education candidate." His post promised to "expand specialized high school seats, expand Gifted and Talented, and give teachers and kids the tools to excel."
"One thing that Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa actually have in common is they support more Gifted and Talented programming, they support keeping the specialized admission test at those schools," Chalkbeat reporter Alex Zimmerman told CBS News New York in an interview earlier this week.
Mamdani went to Bronx Science, a specialized high school. Mayor Eric Adams, who suspended his reelection campaign last weekend, also posted about Mamdani's plan on social media Friday morning, making reference to that.
"The Gifted & Talented program gave thousands of Black and Brown kids a real shot to excel. That's progress we should be building on, not tearing down. Expand it to more children, not fewer. And let's be real, you went to a specialized high school, [Mamdani]. Why take away from our kids the very opportunities that helped shape your own future?" Adams posted.
Sliwa urged to leave race
In the growing intensity of the final month of the campaign, protesters demanded Sliwa join Adams in leaving the race.
Sliwa tried to hold a press conference outside an Upper West Side elementary school but was disrupted by a passionate plea from a protester to get out of the race so Mamdani and Cuomo could face each other head on.
"Don't disgrace yourself. Don't do New York dirty. This is absolutely ridiculous. We will not have Zohran Mamdani, a communist. This is not Cuba. This is not Venezuela," the protester yelled.
Sliwa was undeterred and attacked Mamdani's plans to eliminate the program.
"The way you raise the the level of achievement for children is if you give them all the opportunity," Sliwa said.
"It is wrong to single out the Gifted and Talented program students and then pull them down, drag them down and make them level with everybody else," said Phil Wong, candidate for New York City Council.
Controversy around NYC's Gifted & Talented program
The program sparked debate and even a lawsuit as data showed it overwhelmingly benefited white and Asian students, leaving Black, Brown and low-income students with no advanced options.
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio convened a panel that came up with a plan to phase out the program in favor of something called, "Brilliant NYC." The panel called for eliminating the specialized admission test for incoming students, then all students would be screened in third grade.
"The era of judging 4-year-olds based on a single test is over. Brilliant NYC will deliver accelerated instruction for tens of thousands of children, as opposed to a select few," de Blasio said when the recommendations were announced in October 2021. "Every New York City child deserves to reach their full potential, and this new, equitable model gives them that chance."
Sliwa and Adams, who were running against de Blasio at the time, both came out against that plan, too.
The changes were slated to start in December 2021, just weeks before de Blasio's tenure ended.
Once Adams took office, he and former Schools Chancellor David Banks reversed the plan and expanded the Gifted and Talented program to more schools citywide.
"This is how we are giving and allowing our young people the opportunity to grow, to learn, to explore their talents and imagination. We are making sure that no child is left behind," said Adams in April 2022.
NYC mayoral candidates' other education policies
Mamdani told CBS News New York's Marcia Kramer in an interview last month that he would also like to scale back mayoral control over schools. Cuomo and Sliwa have said they would keep it as is.
"I'm, frankly, considering anything that can increase the involvement of so many of the people who are a part of this," Mamdani said of mayoral control, adding he would not look backward to a central Board of Education.
"One interesting thing about Mamdani is he's actually said relatively little about what he wants to do with the school system. His biggest idea is that he actually wants to have less power over the school system. So in New York City, we have mayoral control of the schools, and Mamdani has said that he wants to kind of cede some of that power to educators and parents in favor of a more democratic framework," Zimmerman explained. "He's also talked about favoring school integration and also wanting to make sure that schools are adequately funded."
Mamdani, who is endorsed by the United Federation of Teachers, has also said he does not support expanding the cap on charter schools, while both of his opponents do.
"I've been skeptical of charter schools and I've made my critiques, those are all on the record. But I've also said that my skepticism and my critique does not preclude me from meeting New Yorkers who feel otherwise. Because this is the importance of leading this city - it's one where I'm both honest and open," Mamdani said in last month's interview.
Zimmerman said Cuomo and Sliwa, meanwhile, have also been focused on hiring more school safety agents and closing low-performing schools as the city faces a state class size mandate.
Sliwa told Kramer in a July interview that he also wants to name Councilman Robert Holden as his chancellor of education to cut the Department of Education's budget and bureaucracy.
CLICK HERE for a closer look at Cuomo's education policies; and HERE for Sliwa's.