A proposal by New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani to eliminate the city's gifted program for kindergarteners has created a sharp divide among education experts and parent groups. The plan, which aims to address equity concerns, has ignited a national debate about the role and fairness of specialized academic tracks for very young students.
Key Takeaways
- Zohran Mamdani, a leading candidate for NYC mayor, is proposing to end the gifted program that begins in kindergarten.
- The proposal is based on concerns that early testing and selection processes are inequitable and unfairly separate young children.
- Opponents of the plan argue that gifted programs are necessary to challenge advanced students and prevent them from becoming disengaged.
- The debate reflects a larger national conversation about how to balance academic acceleration with educational equity.
Mamdani's Proposal to Reshape Early Education
New York City's public school system currently offers an early gifted program that identifies and separates students starting in kindergarten. This program includes approximately 5 percent of the district's total student population. Zohran Mamdani is the only major mayoral candidate advocating for its complete removal, according to a questionnaire from The New York Times.
The city also has a separate gifted program that begins in the third grade, an age more commonly associated with such programs nationwide. Mamdani's focus remains on the earliest entry point, arguing it creates divisions at the very start of a child's academic journey.
"Zohran knows that five year-olds should not be subjected to a singular assessment that unfairly separates them right at the beginning of their public school education," said Dora Pekec, a spokesperson for the Mamdani campaign. She added that his agenda seeks to provide a "high-quality early education that enables them to be challenged and fulfilled" for every student.
Equity and Access at the Forefront of Concerns
The central argument against early gifted programs revolves around issues of fairness and access. Lacking federal standards, the methods for identifying gifted students vary significantly between states and districts, often leading to demographic disparities.
Christopher Cleveland, an assistant professor of education and education policy at Brown University, highlighted the potential for bias. "One of the central concerns with gifted education, in particular with the younger ages, are considerations for which students are going to be able to be identified as gifted," he explained.
How Students Are Identified
Identification methods can include teacher recommendations or standardized test scores. Some districts use an "opt-in" system where families must actively seek out and sometimes pay for external assessments. Cleveland noted that "not all families might have the resources or the knowledge to do that," creating an immediate barrier for lower-income households.
Even when school districts implement universal screening to test all students, concerns persist. "Some of the debates there are about using sort of standardized test scores... and that has those concerns about whether you’re capturing the student skill or the teaching quality that they perceived," Cleveland added.
National Demographics of Gifted Programs
While precise figures are difficult to obtain due to varied reporting, an estimated 3 million students participate in gifted programs across the United States. Studies consistently show that these students are more likely to be white and from higher-income families.
The Case for Retaining and Reforming Gifted Programs
Supporters of gifted education argue that eliminating these programs would harm advanced learners and could paradoxically worsen outcomes for gifted students from disadvantaged backgrounds. They advocate for reform and expansion rather than abolition.
Del Siegle, director of the National Center for Research on Gifted Education at the University of Connecticut, warned that delaying identification until third grade can be detrimental. He argued that gifted students may be left unchallenged for several crucial early years, potentially slowing their academic growth.
Potential for Boredom and Disruption
The pushback against Mamdani's proposal has been strong from some parent advocacy groups. Parent Leaders for Accelerated Curriculum and Education (PLACE) NYC, a group that advocates for accelerated learning, has rescinded its endorsement of the candidate over this issue.
"Having a curriculum that is only just one size fits all is very misguided," said Lisa Marks, co-president of PLACE NYC. "What happens, and what has been shown in studies, is that kids who are accelerated become very bored, and then they check out, they stop engaging, they become disruptive."
Marks added that this behavior not only harms the individual student but can also disrupt the learning environment for the entire classroom.
Early Identification as an Equalizer
Some experts believe that early identification, if done correctly, could help close achievement gaps. Siegle pointed out that disparities often exist on the very first day of school, with some children having fewer developmental advantages than others.
"If there’s no gifted program to develop their talents, they get overlooked when there is a gifted program," Siegle stated, describing the situation as a "double whammy for a kid in poverty." He suggests that teacher ratings have not shown significant bias and that early support can help talented students from all backgrounds succeed.
Megan Cannella, director of outreach at the Davidson Institute, emphasized the need for a multi-faceted approach to identification. "We always look at all applications holistically, because we know testing is just a snapshot," she said, acknowledging that a single test may not reflect a student's true abilities.
A National Debate Mirrored in a Local Election
The controversy over Mamdani's proposal reflects a broader, ongoing struggle within American education. School districts across the country are grappling with how to serve the needs of high-achieving students while ensuring that all children have an equal opportunity to succeed.
Federal Definition of Gifted
The Every Student Succeeds Act defines gifted and talented students as those who "give evidence of high achievement capability in such areas as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who need services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop those capabilities."
As the New York City mayoral election approaches, the debate over the kindergarten gifted program has become a key issue. The outcome could set a precedent for other major urban school districts facing similar questions about the future of accelerated learning and the pursuit of educational equity.
