Ask Mayor Mamdani

Brian Lehrer (0:10)

It's The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning, everyone. And we begin today with our latest episode of Ask the Mayor. My questions and yours for mayors, Zohran Mamdani. First priority for New York City residents, call or text a question for the mayor at 212-433-WNYC. Call or text 212-433-9692.

And Mr. Mayor, hi. We always appreciate that you do these. Welcome back to WNYC.

Zohran Mamdani (0:38)

The pleasure to be back on, Brian. How are you doing?

Brian Lehrer (0:41)

I'm doing all right. Thank you. I want to start in a different kind of way today.

Yesterday, we had the New York Times journalist, Nicole Hannah-Jones on the show on her kind of heartbreaking essay called, In Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own? And ultimately, as I think you know, it was about the persistent segregation of various types in New York City public schools and how it affects especially the education of kids from low-income families of color. That of course well predates you.

But I invited Nicole to put a question to you for today, since you're in charge now. And here's what she asked. This runs 49 seconds.

Nicole Hannah-Jones (1:22)

Mayor Mamdani went back on his promise to end mayoral control of the schools. So he's the mayor.

I want to know when we're going to see a plan to address and dismantle school segregation in the city. We could end, eliminate middle school screens. We could actually zone children to schools.

There are many levers we can pull. The reason I don't name solutions is because we already know what the solutions are. We just don't have the political will to enact them. So I would like the mayor to answer, when are we going to actually see a real and substantial plan to address the racial and social and economic isolation of students? Nothing can help the working class change its material condition more than actually having access to an equal and quality education. So I want to know when we're going to see a plan from him.

Brian Lehrer (2:12)

Nicole Hannah Jones here yesterday. So Mr. Mayor, what would you say to her and to anyone concerned with that set of issues, including her specific question at the end, when are we going to see a plan?

Zohran Mamdani (2:23)

I think first I would say, Brian, that I read her piece and it was a devastating piece.

And it is an articulation in many ways of the systemic nature of the way that the public school system in our city failed her child.

And the sad truth is that she is not alone in that, there are families across our city with similar stories. And that I very much agree with what is implicit in her question, which is that change is an urgent necessity. And it's urgent because we know that black and brown students are not being adequately served. And when we speak about our school system, we are speaking about the most segregated school system in the United States of America. And these issues are the building blocks that we're using to develop a plan to deliver a rigorous and high quality education to every single child across our New York City public school system. It should not be that a child or a family can only come to expect that if they are in the right school. Every school should be the right school. And so when we are looking to pursue this, it is with an understanding that our kids learn better when they're learning alongside those who are different from them. That doesn't just mean racial demographics, it also means an expansion of programs for students with disabilities, multilingual learner programs and so much more. And we have a chancellor who has not only already begun this work with district working groups and engaging directly with school communities on how to build this kind of a school system, but also someone who I picked for this role precisely because his vision for our school system was one that understood the importance of this work, and the importance of delivering it alongside an education that is rigorous and in a classroom that is safe.

Brian Lehrer (4:21)

Well, two of the policy levers she said you could pull, said in the clip are eliminating middle school screens and actually zoning children to schools, her words.

Are you for those things as stated that way? And if so, do you plan to implement them?

Zohran Mamdani (4:39)

This is work that I believe has to be developed in concert with school districts and communities across the city.

That is one of the major emphasis of how we're looking to transform our system. And the chancellor has already begun to tackle this kind of a thing. I was mentioning earlier district working groups. The intent of those kinds of working groups are to engage directly with those communities on how to build that new kind of a system. And to me, we're exploring every single tool that we have at our disposal to ensure that this is going to be a very different school system moving forward than the one that we have inherited.