Mamdani faces pushback over plan to end gifted program

Democratic mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani is facing criticism for proposing to end gifted programs for kindergartners in New York City public schools.

About his plan: If elected, Mamdani would eliminate kindergarten admission to the gifted and talented program, reviving a 2021 proposal by former Mayor Bill de Blasio that Mayor Eric Adams reversed in 2022. Current gifted students would remain enrolled, but kindergarten entry would end next fall. The city is one of few large U.S. districts offering separate gifted programming at the kindergarten level. Some 2,500 of 55,000 kindergartners currently participate in the program, which offers the same curriculum as general education classes but with accelerated instruction.

Meanwhile, in a reversal of his previous position, Mamdani now supports keeping the admissions test for the city’s eight specialized high schools, backing away from earlier concerns about the exam’s fairness.

“De Blasio 2.0”?: Parent Leaders for Accelerated Curriculum and Education co-founder Yiatin Chu, whose organization advocates for accelerated academic options, called Mamdani “de Blasio 2.0” over his plan. “It’s definitely going in the wrong direction … You’re removing a pathway for the brightest of our kids to be challenged,” she told the New York Post. “We should be expanding these programs, not eliminating them.”

Meanwhile, the Washington Post editorial board criticized the proposal in an op-ed titled “Holding back gifted students in the name of equity.” It noted enrollment disparities: Black and Hispanic students represent 66% of overall district enrollment but just 21% of gifted participants, while White and Asian students are overrepresented. The Post argued the city should expand capacity for underserved populations, warning that politicians “tread on dangerous ground when their pursuit of equity comes at the cost of children’s opportunities.”

Zoom out: The dispute reflects ongoing tensions between educational equity and accelerated learning opportunities. Speaking to The New York Times, Brooklyn College professor David Bloomfield, who teaches education leadership, law and policy, called Mamdani’s proposal “the first step in an actual policy to promote desegregation.”

Meanwhile, Mamdani’s opponents Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa both said they would keep the gifted program and expand it if elected. The education debate comes as Mamdani, who would become the city’s first Muslim mayor if elected in November, has faced anti-Muslim rhetoric and even death threats during his campaign.