Where the NYC mayoral candidates stand on education Where the NYC mayoral candidates stand on education

Republican Curtis Sliwa vowed to cut bureaucracy and put more money directly into classrooms, Democratic frontrunner Zohran Mamdani proposed hiring 1,000 new teachers and reducing class sizes and independent candidate Andrew Cuomo pledged to tackle chronic absenteeism and preserve gifted and talented programs. The debate comes as NYC leads the nation in per-student spending but lags in academic results. FOX 5 NY’s Lisa Evers explains.

NEW YORK – The 2025 election for New York City’s next mayor is just over a week away, and like in many elections, education is at the forefront of certain voters’ minds, particularly those with children. 

Although the city is filled with schools that are widely considered to be some of the best in the nation, enrollment has plunged in recent years, indicating a dissatisfaction with the system as a whole. 

According to survey results released by the city’s Department of Education earlier this year, concerns about school safety as well as a desire for better instruction in the classroom seem to be the main reasons why New Yorkers are taking their kids out of the city’s public school system. 

The mayoral race is down to three major candidates: Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa. 

Here’s where the three candidates stand on addressing education in New York City.

JUMP TO: Mamdani | Cuomo | Sliwa

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What they’re saying:

As mayor, Mamdani has vowed to “ensure our public schools are fully funded with equally distributed resources, strong after-school programs, mental health counselors and nurses, compliant and effective class sizes and integrated student bodies.” 

Mamdani is a proponent of the Open Streets for Schools program, which allows any New York City school to limit vehicle traffic on the street near or in front of the school building. Some schools just open the street during arrival and dismissal times, but others use the space to host recess or outdoor learning programs, according to OpenPlans. 

New York State Assemblymember and democratic New York City Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani speaks during an interview on “The Story with Martha MacCallum” at Fox News on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Mamdani also plans to address student homelessness by “expanding the successful Bronx pilot Every Child and Family Is Known,” which aims to improve the well-being of NYC public school students living in shelters by establishing mentor relationships and inter-agency collaborations with city agencies for support. 

A Mamdani administration would also provide new parents and guardians with a collection of essential resources free of charge. These include diapers, nursing pads, baby wipes and more, his platform states. Each NYC Baby Basket will also include a resource guide on the city’s newborn home-visiting program, post-partum depression, breastfeeding and more. 

Mamdani also wants to “implement free child care for every New Yorker aged 6 weeks to 5 years” and bump up the pay for child care workers to that of the city’s public school teachers. Additionally, Mamdani plans to work with the city and state to “massively” invest in CUNY, the public university system in New York City. 

He also wants to hire 1,000 new teachers each year to avoid classroom overcrowding across the city, according to FOX 5 NY’s Lisa Evers. 

“This is…an urgent part of reckoning with the state of our education system today,” he said at a recent press conference. 

Mamdani additionally made headlines when he proposed phasing out the city’s gifted program, but he’s rolled this back a bit, suggesting that he would allow for some. 

Cuomo says education is one of his top three priorities.

According to Cuomo’s platform, the mayor of New York City “has no higher calling than ensuring that the more than 900,000 students enrolled in the New York City public school system receive a high-quality education.” 

The best way to go about ensuring this, Cuomo states, is by reducing class size, expanding after-school programs, addressing chronic absenteeism among students and emphasizing career and technical education. 

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks at the New York City District Council of Carpenters while campaigning for mayor of New York City, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Cuomo also believes that retaining teachers is essential to children having a consistent education. Like many districts across the United States, New York City lost a number of teachers post-pandemic. In order to help teachers stay within the profession, the city needs to address working conditions in the city’s schools and improve safety and mentoring, Cuomo’s platform states. 

Cuomo also wants to “increase the number of School-Based Health Centers” in the city, which provide services such as preventive care to NYC students through the 12th grade.

He was one of Mamdani’s biggest critics when the Democratic nominee first proposed eliminating the gifted and talented program in the city. 

“That program is the one program that allows extraordinary students to actually excel,” he said at a recent press conference. “You take away the gifted and talented program, the one possibility that your child might get a really first-class education in public school goes with it.” 

Sliwa’s campaign website states that New York City’s public schools are “failing too many kids.” 

“Despite a record-breaking $40 billion budget and spending over $32,000 per student, classrooms are underfunded, teachers are paying for supplies out of pocket and student achievement is stagnant,” his platform reads. 

Sliwa is in favor of “overhauling” how NYC’s public school system works by coming up with an entirely new model with “clear goals and measurable outcomes.”

He said on FOX 5 NY’s Politics Unusual that, as mayor, he’d like to cut the bureaucratic bloat and prioritize what’s happening in the classroom. 

Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa takes off his beret: Politics Unusual

“All bureaucracy…that gets cut so that we put money in the classroom where the teachers are still reaching into their pockets to pay for badly-needed school supplies,” he said. 

He also wants to ensure safety in school by “restoring” school safety agents under the NYPD. He also believes that education should stay “focused on proven methods” such as phonics-based reading comprehension and structured math instruction. 

Like Adams, Sliwa also wants to grow gifted and talented programs across all five boroughs and increase vocational education. He plans to address truancy through counseling and mentorship, as well. 

His 10-point plan can be read here. 

The Source: Information above was sourced from Ivy Scholars, Chalkbeat New York, NYC Public Schools, the Education Department, OpenPlans, the NYC Children’s Cabinet, the JAMA Network and previous FOX 5 NY reporting. 

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