The NYC Mayoral Candidates' plans for education

And an opportunity to hear from Andrew Cuomo tonight at 7:30pm on the PLACE townhall

Sep 25, 2025

Education is the largest item of the New York City’s budget but it took a long time for the Mayoral candidates to discuss their plans for managing the Department of Education.

As I wrote back in June, the reasonthey were quiet is that the next Mayor will have to manage declining enrollment, increasing per-pupil spending with no academic results, and inevitably close schools.

Today, at 7:30pm, we have an opportunity to talk to Andrew Cuomo about his plans for education at a townhall hosted by PLACE.

The Mayoral Candidates’ plans for education

I encourage everyone to read the education plans from the leading mayoral candidates:

Andrew Cuomo - a 25 point education plan
Zohran Mandani - has a platform with one paragraph on K-12
Eric Adams - one paragraph on education
Curtis Sliwa - platform with 10 points on education

What I am reading this week

I tell my kids every day that they are so lucky to be growing up in America and, not only that, but in the greatest city in the world. My pre-teen now usually answers with “Have you seen how the streets of NYC look like??!!”, but my little one still just starts to sing Hamilton.

I loved this piece by Robert Pondiscio saying that kids “deserve to learn that (the world) contains beauty, opportunity, and progress—and that orientation, Clifton’s research shows, supports flourishing.”