Abolishing the separate, tracked Gifted & Talented program and replacing it with enriched, heterogeneous classrooms for all.
Ending Gifted and Talented Segregation in Elementary School
NYCs Gifted & Talented (G&T) program, which separates a small percentage of 4-year-olds based on a single high-stakes test, is a powerful engine of racial and socioeconomic segregation within the public school system. Zhoran Mamdanis policy is to abolish the separate G&T track entirely. Instead, all elementary school classrooms would become enriched, heterogeneous learning environments using the Schoolwide Enrichment Model. This approach provides all students with exposure to advanced, project-based learning and then offers additional depth and acceleration based on individual student interests and readiness, not a fixed label.
Teachers would receive training in differentiating instruction for a wide range of learners within the same classroom. The goal is to end the corrosive hierarchy and resource inequity created by G&T, to keep friends and neighbors learning together, and to recognize that giftedness is dynamic and multifaceted, not fixed at age four. Labeling four-year-olds as gifted or not is educational malpractice and a tool of segregation, Mamdani states. We will replace it with a system that challenges every child, discovers their unique talents over time, and builds inclusive school communities where all students learn from each others diverse strengths.
