Just a quick update to let you know that yesterday, Zohran Mamdani announced that he was appointing District 3 Superintendent Kamar Samuels as his Chancellor.
He also said he was renouncing his previous position that Mayoral control needs reform, expressed frequently during his campaign, and that he would ask the Legislature to renew it in June. He did mention some potential tweaks, to “improve the parent coordinator position to be a meaningful organizer of parents” and to “restructure meetings so that working parents can actually attend them.” You can see his entire announcement here.
Both these suggestions, while potentially promising, are a far cry from the fundamental reforms that many parents, teachers and advocates believe should be made to ensure significant checks and balances in the school governance system.
DOE is unlike any other city agency, in that there is no significant local input into educational decision-making, either from the City Council nor an independent school board, the latter which 98% of districts across the country already enjoy. School boards were created to try to take the politics out of education, and though this is essentially impossible, one-man rule in NYC has too often led to wasteful and corrupt contracts, backroom deals, irrational policies and faulty implementation.
I was sitting with my family at lunch when I was alerted to Mamdani’s statements through various chat groups. I listened to his remarks and began to tweet. I thought it was important for someone to speak out quickly to counter his claim – that is too often the conventional wisdom --- that Mayoral control leads to more accountability, when the reverse is true, as I explained in my briefing to the NYC Bar Association.
Surprisingly, both the NY Daily News and the NY Times quoted my remarks in their stories about the Mamdani reversal – but only part of them, so I’d like to share the whole thread with you, which began in response to a tweet from reporter Ross Barkan:
@Ross Barkan
Mamdani announces he will support the system of mayoral control after his past disavowal of the system. He promises more input from parents.
@leoniehaimson
Very troubling. Every mayor has promised more parent input and then when push comes to shove, they just do what they want. Any system with no locally based checks & balances is inherently dysfunctional & anti- democratic @ZohranKMamdani
It has also led to poor policy decisions under every mayor since Bloomberg, and too many backroom deals in which kids needs have been sacrificed for political ends.
One man rule has not worked for our federal government as we’ve seen clearly in 2025. No matter how much @ZohranKMamdani has progressive positions or values, it will not work well for @nycschools either
This apparent reversal is indeed an inauspicious beginning to Mamdani’s mayoralty. I want to assure you that in 2026, we will continue to advocate for real accountability, transparency, and spending focused on what research and experience shows actually works – including smaller classes – rather than unproven and often risky fads, like AI.
I hope you will help us in achieving these goals as well, by supporting our work in 2026.
Happy New Year, Leonie
