Mamdani urged to consider tutoring, housing for teachers, school mergers and other initiatives
Educators Present Comprehensive Vision for NYC School System Transformation
As Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani prepares to take over the nation’s largest school system on January 1, educators, advocates, parents, and students have submitted more than 18 bold ideas for reform and improvement. These proposals span curriculum redesign, teacher support, school structure, and student wellness. The ideas come from accomplished practitioners, nonprofit leaders, and students themselves, offering the incoming mayor a roadmap of reforms that stakeholders believe could meaningfully improve educational outcomes for nearly 900,000 students across the five boroughs.
Teacher Support and Affordability: A Crisis Within a Crisis
Multiple education leaders have highlighted that solving teacher shortages requires addressing housing affordability. Only about 20 percent of rental units in New York City are affordable to teachers, creating a recruitment and retention crisis. Lisa Margosian, CEO of Achievement First Public Charter Schools, has called for a citywide effort to build dedicated mixed-income housing for teachers with rent capped at 30 percent of income. This practical step would make teaching sustainable, improve recruitment and retention, and give students the stability and high-quality instruction they deserve. Other educators emphasize that every teacher deserves a coach of their choice, selected in partnership with principals and districts, to support continuous professional development tailored to individual needs.
Reimagining High School Through Capstone Projects
Shael Polakow-Suransky, President of Bank Street College of Education, proposes replacing 12th-grade seat time with a yearlong city capstone project. With New York sunsetting its Regents exams, schools have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to stop wasting months on test prep. Instead, all seniors could pursue either deep civic action projects or apprenticeships in high-growth sectors like green energy and healthcare. This approach recognizes that students need not just academic knowledge but professional networks and skilled career pathways that lead to earning power sufficient to afford housing in the city.
Tutoring, Integration, and Whole-Child Support
Katie Pace Miles, a Brooklyn College professor and founder of The Reading Institute, advocates for intensive tutoring for all students who need it. Research shows that high-impact tutoring occurring three to five times weekly using evidence-based programs allows students behind benchmarks to catch up to grade-level expectations. Equitable access to this support would address the reality that privileged families hire tutors while public school students often receive minimal academic support. Arlen Benjamin-Gomez of EdTrust-New York proposes requiring every district to create a local integration plan. Diversifying schools is one of the few proven strategies to improve outcomes for all students, and District 15’s equitable middle-school lottery reduced economic segregation by 55 percent and racial segregation by 38 percent in just one year.
School Structures and Closing the Academic Gap
Ray Domanico, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, proposes boldly consolidating underenrolled schools into larger schools with stronger leadership and programmatic offerings. Declining birth rates mean fewer students enrolling in traditional public schools. Strategically merging schools rather than letting them deteriorate could free buildings for conversion into affordable housing, addressing both school quality and housing affordability simultaneously. Diane Ravitch, the influential education leader and author, advocates for expanding community schools that provide wraparound services including medical screening, vision testing, dental care, meals, and connection to city services and employment resources. Rather than promoting school choice, which destabilizes neighborhoods, community schools anchor institutions that strengthen families and communities.
Social Emotional Learning and Student Voice
Kevin Dahill-Fuchel of Counseling In Schools proposes expanding social and emotional well-being assessments on student report cards from their current limitation to pre-K and kindergarten through all of high school. Recognizing non-academic qualities like being friendly, helpful, hardworking, and reflective would value and nurture students as complete persons while strengthening their chance at academic success. Liz Pitofsky of the Service Learning Project calls for making sure all schools have active student councils that meet regularly with administrators, engaging youth in problem-solving about their schools and neighborhoods. When children and teens have opportunities to make their voices heard, they see themselves as leaders with responsibility for citizenship.
Practical Wellness and Food Initiatives
Rachel Sabella of No Kid Hungry New York emphasizes treating schools as nutrition hubs, increasing school pantries, helping families apply for SNAP and other benefits, and maximizing reach of existing meal programs. Student Jeremiah Dickerson from Williamsburg Charter High School calls for better school food, noting that students deserve healthier options than the current offerings. These practical changes acknowledge that hungry, well-nourished students learn better.
What These Proposals Reflect
The breadth and specificity of these proposals suggest that educators and advocates have thought deeply about school improvement. They are not calling for wholesale privatization or dismantling public education. Rather, they propose strengthening public schools through teacher support, curricular innovation, community integration, and whole-child approaches. Mamdani stated he would assess all appointees, including the schools chancellor, based on results. These ideas offer metrics for success and accountability that the incoming administration could adopt to demonstrate commitment to public education.
