Zohran Mamdani’s school chancellor begs Albany for another $602M to hire 6K teachers

ALBANY – New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s newly minted schools chancellor asked state lawmakers Thursday for another $602 million to hire 6,000 new teachers in Big Apple Schools.

That’s on top of $14 billion in school aid for the city that the governor included in her executive budget proposal this year after the Department of Education dished out $450 million to hire 3,700 new teachers.

Lawmakers and the governor also forked over $2 billion in capital funding for city schools in 2022 to help implement a cap on class sizes.

“Class size is not simply a checkbox, a box ticking exercise. It’s about ensuring that every child has the support they deserve from their teacher,” Samuels said.

“We will need to hire at least 6,000 additional teachers on top of the standard annual hiring, which will cost, at minimum an additional $602 million annually,” he added.

The massive sum is still significantly less than the $1.5 billion ex-Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos asked lawmakers for last year.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s new school chancellor is calling for more money from Albany to hire more teachers, though far less than his predecessors demanded. James Messerschmidt

The 2022 cap limited K-3 classes at 20 students and put a limit at fourth through eighth grade classes at 23. High school classes are capped at 25, according to the state law.

Former Mayor Eric Adams’ administration had pushed back on the cap as an unfunded mandate and officials complained about hiring enough teachers to meet the requirement.

Sen. Jim Tedisco (R-Schenectady) also pressed Samuels on Mamdani’s past comments suggesting he’d roll back gifted and talented programs in city schools.

“The mayor never said he was going to phase out or do away with gifted and talented,” Samuels said.

Hochul included a four-year extension of mayoral control in her budget proposal. Paul Martinka

Though his acting first Deputy Chancellor Isabel DiMola, Acting First Deputy Chancellor explained the schools are considering pushing back the programs to start in later grades, though no changes are planned for the upcoming school year.

“We may be looking at, does it make sense to start these gifted programs a little later in age than four and five years old,” DiMola said.

One major item Samuels does not have to beg for is an extension of mayoral control of New York City schools. Normally a bartering chip for lawmakers and the governor, Hochul included a four-year extension of the mayor’s powers in her budget proposal.