Class Size Plan at Center of Mamdani’s Bid to Extend Mayoral Control

“A lot of the conversation today was about class size,” Samuels told New York Focus after the private meetings. “But I would say we are making significant progress, and I think that hopefully puts us in a really good position.” He said the city is working on a plan to submit before the state budget is finalized.

The 2022 state law requires New York City to cap class sizes at 20 to 25 students by 2028 and sets several interim requirements, one of which the city met this school year by exceeding 60 percent compliance. But at a City Council hearing on Monday, Samuels admitted that it will be “very difficult” to meet the next benchmark: 80 percent by September.

During the meetings with lawmakers, Samuels shared some details of the plan and floated the possibility of a two-year extension to comply with the mandate.

Senator John Liu, chair of the Senate’s New York City Education Committee and sponsor of the 2022 law, said he had a productive meeting with Samuels. Liu said his support for mayoral control depends in part on the city’s ability to make good on the mandate, and that while the new administration has consistently said it intends to comply, it was “all words, no clear action” until Tuesday.

Samuels “was able to show a very specific inventory of where the shortages are and what the plan is to address those shortages, where and how they intend to build out more classroom space, and very specific progress that speaks well to what this administration is doing,” Liu said.

“It does make a strong case for giving them more time to comply with class size reduction as well as extending mayoral control,” he said.

Research has shown that smaller class sizes can have a positive influence on academic achievement, especially for lower-income students in early grades, but experts debate whether the benefits are worth the cost.

The city has already invested $640 million in class size reductions, and estimates suggest billions more will be needed to fully implement the law. An Urban Institute report released this week found that schools serving low-income students are more likely to already meet the caps — meaning that the extra funds required by the law will disproportionately go to schools that serve wealthier students.

Earlier this month, the Assembly proposed allocating $600 million to help New York City meet the mandate. Samuels told New York Focus it would be “virtually impossible” to do so without an extension of mayoral control.

Mayoral control has been a topic of debate since it was implemented in 2002. Under the governance system, the mayor appoints the city’s schools chancellor and a majority of the members to the Panel for Educational Policy, which acts as a de facto school board. The state legislature has reauthorized mayoral control seven times. The city has not received an extension longer than three years in over a decade.

Supporters say the centralized governance streamlines decision-making and ensures consistent, efficient management of city schools, while critics argue it limits community input and applies a one-size-fits-all approach that can deepen inequities.

Mamdani had pledged to end mayoral control on the campaign trail, but reversed course in December. Samuels appears to have had some influence on that decision. He said he told Mamdani that “if you want to have universal child care, you can’t have 32 districts doing different things.”

“If you have an ambitious agenda in the city, the way to do it is through mayoral control and accountability,” Samuels said on Tuesday, adding that he plans to increase opportunities for community input.

In January, Governor Kathy Hochul proposed a four-year extension of mayoral control in her executive budget, but neither the state Senate nor the Assembly one-house budgets released this month included an extension.