Gifted and talented programs become flashpoint in NYC mayoral race

"About 2,500 children out of the school system's more than 60,000 kindergartners are in gifted programs. "I continue to believe that it is incredibly important for us to deliver excellent quality public education for each and every New Yorker, and that for kindergartners, we should not have a gifted and talented program that is separating them on the basis of that assessment," Mamdani said at an unrelated press conference on Friday."

"He is promising to expand gifted and talented programs in every borough and double the number of specialized high schools from nine to 18. Gifted programs have long been controversial. Some families see them as an essential pathway to rigorous academics and top-tier public schools, including the specialized high schools. Education experts say they exacerbate segregation in the school system: 70% of students in the city's gifted classes are white or Asian, even though those two groups of students only comprise 35% of total enrollment."

Zohran Mamdani proposes phasing out kindergarten gifted and talented classes while keeping specialized high school tests. About 2,500 of more than 60,000 kindergartners attend gifted programs. Mamdani objects to using a singular assessment that separates children at the start of their schooling and limited his commitment to kindergartners. Rival Andrew Cuomo vows to expand gifted programs citywide and double specialized high schools from nine to 18. Gifted programs draw praise for academic rigor and criticism for worsening segregation; 70% of gifted students are white or Asian despite comprising 35% of total enrollment. Former efforts to eliminate gifted classes were attempted under a prior mayor.

Read at Gothamist