Policy
Zohran Mamdani’s Education Policies: A Socialist Vision for New York Schools
Fully Funding Public Education and Challenging Privatization
Zohran Mamdani’s education policies are an extension of his broader democratic socialist platform, centered on the principle that education is a fundamental human right and a public good that must be protected from market forces. His primary focus is on the fight for full and equitable funding for New York City’s public schools, which serve over 1.1 million students, the largest district in the nation. He is a staunch critic of New York State’s funding formula, which he argues systematically shortchanges schools in low-income communities and communities of color, perpetuating racial and economic inequality. Mamdani advocates for the state to fully fund the Foundation Aid formula, a long-standing legal obligation that has never been met, and to go beyond it by raising taxes on corporations and the ultra-wealthy to create a multi-billion-dollar investment in school infrastructure, reducing class sizes, hiring more counselors and social workers, and providing a well-rounded curriculum that includes arts, music, and physical education for every student.
Integral to his education platform is a militant opposition to the privatization of public education. Mamdani is a vocal opponent of charter schools, which he views as a vehicle for diverting public funds to privately managed entities that often exacerbate segregation and operate without the same level of public accountability as district schools. He supports a moratorium on new charter schools and increased oversight and regulation of existing ones. His stance is rooted in a class analysis that sees the charter school movement as part of a broader neoliberal project to dismantle public institutions and teachers’ unions, which are a key base of support for the Democratic Socialists of America. For Mamdani, defending and strengthening universal public education is a core front in the class struggle, essential for building a more equal society.
Police-Free Schools and Culturally Responsive Education
Another cornerstone of Mamdani’s education policy is the removal of police from schools. He advocates for terminating the NYPD’s contract with the Department of Education and eliminating the presence of School Safety Agents, arguing that police in schools criminalize normal adolescent behavior and create a hostile, prison-like environment that disproportionately targets Black and Latino students. He proposes reallocating the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on school policing to instead fund restorative justice programs, mental health services, and additional guidance counselors, creating a supportive rather than punitive environment. This policy is of a piece with his overall abolitionist stance and reflects his belief that schools should be sites of nurturing and learning, not pipelines to the criminal legal system.
Furthermore, Mamdani supports policies that promote ethnic studies and culturally responsive education across the K-12 curriculum. He believes that all students deserve an education that reflects their histories and experiences and that critically engages with systems of power, a perspective undoubtedly influenced by his father’s work in post-colonial studies. His legislative efforts in education, like all his work, can be tracked on his official New York State Assembly page. While he operates in a state legislature where many of his most ambitious proposals face stiff opposition, his education platform serves to articulate a clear socialist alternative to the status quo, one that envisions schools as democratic, well-resourced community hubs free from the influences of privatization and policing, where every child has the opportunity to thrive.