It is an eight-word question that hovers over the future of more than 900,000 children. Who should run New York City’s school system?
Across the United States, most districts rely on an elected school board to shape education policy, approve textbooks and hire superintendents. In New York City, the mayor wields nearly unrestricted control over those decisions.
But mayoral control of the city’s schools, and whether that system should be preserved or overhauled, has quietly emerged as a source of pronounced disagreement between the two leading candidates in the final stretch of the mayor’s race.
To Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, mayoral control has produced an undemocratic school system and must be changed, a position that he has maintained even as he moderates some of his views on other issues. His stance aligns with those of progressive families and the city’s influential teachers’ union, which endorsed him after the June primary.
But Mr. Mamdani’s stance has alarmed many longtime school leaders and officials in the city’s Education Department, who are concerned that a mayor would willingly cede power over such a crucial issue.
They wouldn’t have to worry about that with Andrew M. Cuomo as mayor. Mr. Cuomo, who is running as a third-party candidate, has described ending mayoral control as a “terrible mistake.”
He has signaled that he would take a firm hand in managing the system, with plans to close and replace chronically underperforming schools. Few issues can more significantly threaten a mayor’s approval among teachers and families, and inflame polarization around school control.
These dueling visions for New York’s school system, the nation’s largest, reveal a deep chasm between the top candidates and offer some insight into the political alliances and worldviews that could shape how their administrations would manage the city’s mammoth $40 billion education agency.
“From the beginning, this has been something of a battle between the notion of centralization and management on the one hand versus community and parent voice on the other,” Jeffrey Henig, a professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College, said.
The mayor’s authority over education in New York has long been a political Rorschach test. Supporters argue that it promotes accountability and makes possible large-scale changes, such as Mayor Bill de Blasio’s rollout of free prekindergarten for all 4-year-olds. Critics say it shuts teachers and parents out of decision-making, and means that educational priorities can change with every election cycle.
None of the three major candidates in the mayor’s race appear likely to cede all authority over education. They all plan on appointing a schools chancellor, the most direct way a mayor exerts control over the school system. They all say they are opposed to returning to the former system, consisting of a Board of Education and 32 elected local school boards.
Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee who is polling a distant third, says he would maintain mayoral control but would “overhaul how the system operates.” He has offered few details but says he would make the system more responsive to parental concerns.
The candidates competing views on education came to a head during the final two mayoral debates, as Mr. Cuomo repeatedly sought to highlight the divide between himself and Mr. Mamdani.
“I’ve been critical of mayoral control because of the ways in which it’s been used to take away the voice of parents, of educators, of students,” Mr. Mamdani said during the first debate. “It’s important that those same voices be a part of how we lead.”
“So are you for or against mayoral control?” Mr. Cuomo interjected.
“I’m against mayoral control,” Mr. Mamdani replied.
Mr. Mamdani has so far offered a message rather than a plan. He acknowledged during a television interview on Friday that he had not determined what changes he might support when the state Legislature, which typically renews mayoral control for two- or four-year terms, revisits the issue next year.
He has at times oscillated between arguing for an end to mayoral control and calling for changes to the system. But Mr. Mamdani’s central view, that mayoral control needs more checks and balances, is shared by Michael Mulgrew, the president of the United Federation of Teachers.
Mr. Mulgrew has considered pushing for a version of mayoral control that gives more sway to teachers, and has criticized the mayor’s outsize influence over a city education panel that votes on major policies and school contracts.
“We have now experienced the use — and abuse — of such unfettered authority under three vastly different administrations,” he told lawmakers when mayoral control was up for renewal last year.
Mr. Cuomo would aim to exercise significant authority over the system if elected, moving to replace chronically underperforming schools with what he calls “a high-performance model,” such as a charter school.
His leadership style could mirror that of Michael R. Bloomberg, who won control over the system in 2002 when he was mayor and shuttered many low-performing schools, replacing them with smaller, new schools.
Mr. Bloomberg regularly clashed with the teachers’ union, which Mr. Cuomo has recently criticized after unsuccessfully seeking the group’s endorsement in the spring.
“Anyone who’s in their right mind knows rolling back mayoral control is absurd,” Mr. Cuomo said at a town hall with parents last month.
Troy Closson is a Times education reporter focusing on K-12 schools.
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