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The Washington Post editorial board slammed New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani Friday for “holding back gifted students in the name of equity” following his proposal to phase out gifted education programs in the city.
“Who could have guessed that Zohran Mamdani (D), the leading candidate to become the next New York mayor, would provoke a firestorm by announcing this week that he intends to phase out the city’s early elementary school programs for gifted students in the name of equity? Parents of bright children want access to schooling that meets their needs?” The Post questioned. “Shocking.”
In response to a New York Times questionnaire on Thursday, the mayoral hopeful revealed his plans to eliminate gifted programs for public school children in N.Y.C. until they enter third grade.
The headline for the Post’s editorial read, “Holding back gifted students in the name of equity.”
The city’s current program allows students to enter these gifted programs starting in kindergarten after they have been nominated by their preschool teachers, and meet other criteria based on their grades.
As noted by The Post, the city’s gifted student program has long-faced criticism from those on the left who argue that the program exacerbates segregation in the city’s school system.
“Students who come from higher-income families are at an advantage of being selected, resulting in a disproportionate number of White and Asian kids. Black and Hispanic kids, who comprise 66 percent of total enrollment, make up only 21 percent of participants in these programs,” the outlet reported.
The Post was critical of Mamdani and other school systems that have made similar changes to their gifted student programs for not appreciating the fact that “gifted children have different learning needs from their peers, just as children with cognitive disabilities benefit from education plans that are specific to them.”
“Parents see the gifted programs as stepping stones toward high-achieving schools down the road. But the solution is not to take away opportunities from children who are currently benefiting from them; it is to expand the program and improve how the city identifies children from underserved populations,” the outlet argued.
In closing, The Post warned that politicians “tread on dangerous ground when their pursuit of equity comes at the cost of children’s opportunities.”
This isn’t the first time the Post’s editorial board has warned about Mamdani’s potential impact on N.Y.C. if he were to be elected.
In June, The Post argued that Mamdani’s socialist policies could bring the city back to the “bad old days” and “discredit” the next generation of Democratic leaders.
“New Yorkers should be worried that he would lead Gotham back to the bad old days of civic dysfunction, and Democrats should fear that he will discredit their next generation of party leaders, almost all of whom are better than this democratic socialist,” The Post cautioned.
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