Democratic Socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani has proposed phasing out the successful and popular Gifted and Talented (G&T) program in New York City elementary schools, starting with eliminating kindergarten admissions next fall. If implemented, his decision would drag New York City back to the failed policies of the de Blasio administration.
Groups advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, such as the School Diversity Advisory Group that Mamdani pledges to support, have long called G&T racist and sought to terminate it because its students are disproportionately White and Asian relative to the overall school system; their logic stems from Marxist and critical theories aimed at countering “white supremacist” values like merit and in enforcing uniformly low outcomes. Claiming racism and cutting gifted and talented programming, however, merely diverts attention from New York public schools’ critical problems.
The New York City Department of Education (DOE) performs dismally by every objective metric, from state assessment and NAEP scores to violent incidents and truancy. An end to G&T would only worsen these problems. Scrapping G&T entry at kindergarten, eventually leading to a full phase-out across all elementary grades, would deprive eager young learners of vital nurturing and stimulation, forcing them into one-size-fits-all classrooms—where boredom breeds disengagement—while doing nothing to improve educational outcomes for others.
Mamdani’s current proposal keeps the third-grade entry point for now. But without kindergarten admissions, G&T programs will wither. Their disappearance will likely widen the inequities Mamdani decries. A University of Pennsylvania study shows G&T’s proven results: students in the programs outperform their peers by 20 percent to 30 percent in math and reading by middle school, with low-income and Black and Hispanic students showing the greatest gain against their peers. Phasing out G&T will hurt these students most of all, as they will lose the rigorous academic preparation that can lead them to better high schools and colleges.
Reviewing de Blasio’s dismal educational record is valuable because his “equity” advocates are resurfacing in Mamdani’s campaign. They include de Blasio’s last schools chancellor Meisha Porter and key far-left education ally Brad Lander, New York City’s comptroller. Anti-merit advocate and Democratic Socialist Jamaal Bowman, viewed as a potential schools chancellor in a Mamdani administration, isn’t promising, either.
By dumping G&T, Mamdani would repeat some of the worst mistakes of the de Blasio years. Even before the pandemic, the DOE’s report card was dismal, with poor academic results under race-focused chancellor Richard Carranza. To mask its inability or unwillingness to improve schools, the de Blasio administration chose to attack the best that the city could offer—the G&T programs and the Specialized High Schools. In 2021, as the lame-duck mayor plotted his exit, his Department of Education eliminated objective admissions testing for the G&T programs, replacing it with teacher-based assessments and a lottery system for racial-balancing purposes.
Ignoring diverse parents—Asian, Black, White, and Hispanic, many with foreign accents, who united to protest in packed meetings of local Community Education Councils and the citywide Panel for Education Policy—the DOE reduced options instead of improving early-childhood education for all. Citing “equity,” the DOE shuttered programs in neighborhoods, including low-income ones, where demand outstripped supply.
The DOE’s track record on “equity” speaks for itself: de Blasio’s lottery experiment caused G&T enrollment to plummet, as parents fled to charters, private options, and the suburbs—widening the gap between higher- and lower-performing students.
On taking office in 2022, Mayor Eric Adams reinstated and expanded G&T programs. His administration rightly framed accelerated education not just as acceptable but also as a ladder out of poverty.
New York leaders should reject any policies that diminish G&T programs and the specialized high schools—and New Yorkers should vote accordingly. We need to provide high floors and high ceilings for our students, especially the children of low-income parents who have sacrificed for their kids’ future.
The next mayor should expand, not reduce, G&T seats throughout the city. He should invest in teacher training, pilot universal screening programs to find bright kids in every neighborhood, and elevate merit over discrimination and ideology.
When our kids thrive, so will our city.
Editor's note: This was first published by City Journal.
