NYCs failing schools need a mayor who will take on the selfish teachers union

Fixing our public schools is one of the most important jobs facing New York City’s next mayor: At $41 billion, education spending is the single largest item in City Hall’s gargantuan $115 billion budget.But in both televised debates of the Democratic mayoral primary, my opponents offered only platitudes and teachers-union talking points.Last Thursday, I was the only candidate on stage to argue against the foolish class-size mandate secured by the United Federation of Teachers.The policy may sound good, but as I noted it will cost $1.6 billion — and having to suddenly hire thousands of teachers who are less experienced and less qualified than the teachers we have will undercut any possible benefit of smaller classes.When it comes to education, we can’t afford to repeat the same tired slogans and tinker around the margins.But the UFT’s self-interest makes real reform impossible.Fighting for kids — and taking on the adults who run our educational system for their benefit — has been my life’s mission.

It’s why I helped start Teach for America and Democrats for Education Reform, and why I served on the board of NYC KIPP charter schools for more than two decades.Now that I’m running for mayor, I am the only candidate who has made fixing our schools a core part of my pitch to voters.I have a simple message to the city’s parents: Our Department of Education is ripping you off — and lying about it.The facts are damning: Every year, New York City spends upward of $40,000 per student — more than any other district in the country — but nearly half (46%) of our fourth-graders lack basic reading skills.Shockingly, fourth graders in our nation’s poorest state, Mississippi — which spends just $12,000 per student — are now reading at a higher level than their peers in the five boroughs.The results for New York City’s black and Latino kids are especially alarming.In 2024, 58% of black fourth graders and 62% of Latino fourth graders in New York Ci...