Kamar H. Samuels, New York’s New Schools Chancellor, Emphasizes Rigor and Equity

Kamar H. Samuels, New York City’s new schools chancellor, spent his first week on the job visiting schools across the city and outlining early priorities. He visited Public School 194 in the Bronx, where he once taught sixth-grade math, and met families and principals as he began to sketch an agenda.

Mr. Samuels said he plans to center his leadership on two ideas: rigor and equity. "Our students — from early childhood through graduation — deserve schools that are safe, academically rigorous and truly integrated," he told families, according to the report. The system he now leads serves more than 875,000 students and faces wide gaps in academic outcomes along racial and income lines.

He has traversed schools in Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Staten Island and signaled support for high expectations, high-quality teaching and programs that can broaden access to rigorous coursework. As superintendent he favored International Baccalaureate programs as a less-restrictive alternative to traditional gifted and talented tracks, and some education leaders, including Shael Polakow-Suransky, said he "understands that rigor and equity are both essential goals for our schools," the article reported.

Mr.

Key Topics

Politics, Kamar H. Samuels, New York City, Zohran Mamdani, International Baccalaureate, School Integration