"Parents have complained for decades that getting into an elite independent school in Manhattan is harder than getting into Harvard; for the wealthy parents who are competing to spend about $70,000 a year, it's an infamously complicated and time-intensive game of tutoring and networking that involves preschoolers sitting for assessments and 'interviews' just before nap time."
"Mamdani's campaign told the Times that he would follow through with former Mayor Bill de Blasio's plan, announced in 2021, to phase out the gifted program for elementary schools. Students currently enrolled in the program will continue, but the program will not be available for kindergartners next fall."
"The plan to end the program prompted some education experts to warn that it could deprive high-achieving students - particularly those from low-income families - of critical academic opportunities."
Mayor Zohran Mamdani's proposal to eliminate gifted and talented programs for kindergarteners in New York City public schools is prompting parents to seek private school alternatives. The plan, which continues former Mayor de Blasio's 2021 initiative to phase out the program, has divided parents and sparked concerns among education experts. Currently enrolled students will remain in the program, but new kindergarteners will not have access. Mamdani argues early gifted testing creates inequities, though critics warn it deprives high-achieving students, particularly from low-income families, of academic opportunities. The policy shift has intensified private school competition, with parents engaging in extensive networking and tutoring to secure elite independent school placements costing approximately $70,000 annually.
Read at Fox News
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]