Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist (communist) who is likely to become the next mayor of New York City, wants to end programs for gifted students in the city.
This is what diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies look like in action. Since it’s not possible to make student smart enough for the gifted programs, the gifted students must be held back in the name of equity.
The people who are capable of achieving more, must be punished in the name of fairness.
Mamdani is being called out over this. Even the liberal Washington Post is not happy about it.
FOX News reports:
Washington Post editorial slams Mamdani for ‘holding back gifted students in the name of equity’
The Washington Post editorial board slammed New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani Friday for “holding back gifted students in the name of equity” following his proposal to phase out gifted education programs in the city.
“Who could have guessed that Zohran Mamdani (D), the leading candidate to become the next New York mayor, would provoke a firestorm by announcing this week that he intends to phase out the city’s early elementary school programs for gifted students in the name of equity? Parents of bright children want access to schooling that meets their needs?” The Post questioned. “Shocking.”…
The Post was critical of Mamdani and other school systems that have made similar changes to their gifted student programs for not appreciating the fact that “gifted children have different learning needs from their peers, just as children with cognitive disabilities benefit from education plans that are specific to them.”
“Parents see the gifted programs as stepping stones toward high-achieving schools down the road. But the solution is not to take away opportunities from children who are currently benefiting from them; it is to expand the program and improve how the city identifies children from underserved populations,” the outlet argued.
George Washington University professor Jonathan Turley made a similar point at The Hill:
Mamdani’s plan to ruin public education in New York
Zohran Mamdani appears to have a plan for leveling the playing fields in education. Faced with a huge number of students with comparably dismal scores in math, English, and science, Mamdani is going to bulldoze higher-achieving programs. It is a pledge that only Soviet central planner would relish.
By eliminating gifted and talented program in lower grades, Mamdani will increase equity through mediocrity. With some on the left demanding the closure of all such programs, the concern is that New York is following the trend in other blue cities. (His opponent, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, has said that he would actually expand these programs).
Even the Washington Post’s editors have objected to his plan as “damaging education in the name of equity.”
Zohran Mamdani attended an elite private school. Now he wants to trap New York City students in mediocre public schools with no chance to excel if they’re capable of doing it.