Mamdani abandons plan to end mayoral control and names Kamar Samuels chancellor

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani said he will no longer seek to end mayoral control of New York City’s public schools and formally named Kamar Samuels as the city’s schools chancellor. Mamdani had campaigned arguing the mayoral model shuts out many teachers, parents and students and pressed that position in the final debates, but on Wednesday he said he disagreed with how the outgoing mayor, Eric Adams, wielded power while also acknowledging “the need for the mayor to be held accountable for public school outcomes.” He said he would ask the State Legislature this year for an extension of his authority over schools and vowed an approach that makes community involvement “tangible and actionable.” The mayor-elect announced Samuels at an event in Central Park and also named Emmy Liss as executive director of the city’s child care office.

Samuels, 48, who most recently served as superintendent of an Upper Manhattan district, will start on Thursday; the departing chancellor, Melissa Aviles-Ramos, agreed to stay on for a month to aid the transition. Mamdani described Samuels as the leader the system needs, saying in part, “This moment demands a new generation of leadership that both understands our school system and has a transformative vision on how to remake it.” The chancellor presides over a $40 billion operating budget and authority across more than 1,500 schools, a scope the article noted is larger than the entire state of Maryland’s roughly 1,400 public schools.

Key Topics

Politics, Zohran Mamdani, Kamar Samuels, New York City, Mayoral Control, State Legislature