Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic mayoral nominee, plans to terminate the gifted and talented program for elementary school students in public schools if elected as mayor, according to the New York Times.
Mamdani said in a statement that he would embrace phasing out the gifted program, which has been widely criticized for exacerbating segregation, according to the paper. Mamdani's position first came to light after he responded to a questionnaire that the Times sent to the leading candidates in the race about major issues the city is facing.
Students who are in gifted classes, which offers accelerated academic instruction to students starting in kindergarten, would remain in the program, but there would be no gifted program for kindergartners next fall, his campaign said to the Times on Wednesday.
Mamdani also said that he would keep the admissions test for the eight elite public high schools, backing away from his previous comments expressing concerns about the exam’s fairness, the paper reported.
Former Governor Andrew Cuomo said the Democratic ideal has always been about providing more opportunities for historically marginalized students to access these programs, not eliminating academic excellence.
"The Department of Education’s own survey shows that 40% of parents who left the public school system did so because they wanted more rigorous instruction," Cuomo said in a statement. "If there are tens of thousands of applications for limited G&T spots, parents are telling you something: They want more of it, not less."
The debate surrounding G&T classes is not new. Former mayor Bill de Blasio in October 2021 said he wanted to phased the classes out but never did.
Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa said he would expand the G&T program and chided Cuomo for backing parts of de Blasio's plan or being silent on the matter several years ago.
"I will expand specialized high school seats, expand Gifted and Talented, and give teachers and kids the tools to excel," Sliwa said on X. "I am the education candidate. We are not letting Mamdani and his mentor Cuomo fail our children again."
