Overview

• Mamdani said he would end kindergarten entry to Gifted and Talented next year and begin phasing out certain elementary offerings.
• His campaign said gifted classes will continue through this school year, with kindergarten gifted not offered next fall.
• The proposal is part of a plan to provide universal free childcare for children six weeks to five years old, financed partly by higher taxes on corporations and millionaires that would need approval in Albany.
• His team argues early-age tracking is inequitable and has contributed to racially isolated classrooms documented by prior reporting.
• The move would restore Bill de Blasio’s 2021 rollback of early-age G&T, which Mayor Eric Adams reinstated and expanded in 2022, and it drew a sharp rebuke from Andrew Cuomo.