Mayor Mamdani Chooses a Chancellor

Mayor-Elect, and only hours away from Mayor Mamdani began briefing insiders re his choice for chancellor, Kamar Samuels, a Department of Education lifer. See NYT here and Gothamist here.

On the cynical side I’m asked, “Whose his rabbi?”  You don’t make it to the finish line without the right push.

 Chancellors these days run the education system by press releases, the key folks, the classroom teachers are out of the loop. I’m not optimistic that anything will change.

There are subsets of schools, highly effective, innovative, models of collaborative decision-making, with nary a press release. In the waning years Bloomberg stepped back and a few of his deputies redesigned the system, clusters of schools choosing with whom to work, not-for-profits mirroring educational management organizations, with impressive success.

The Internationals Network, for immigrant high school new arrivals, New Visions for Public Schools, a school system within the larger school system. The late Norm Fruchter described the birth and functioning in detail, a must reading for our new mayor and chancellor.

Within a few days deputy chancellors will be chosen,  a continuation of the current stumbling behemoth, choosing acolytes, paying off for favors, or an admission: maybe teachers have something to contribute.

What is a collaborative school?

In collaborative schools, teachers shift from isolated instructors to shared leaders, actively co-planning, co-teaching, and analyzing data with colleagues to tailor instruction, foster student thinking, and build a supportive environment, moving from just “teacher talk” to more student-centered active learning and problem-solving. Their role involves guiding group work, sharing expertise across grade levels, and contributing to a culture of trust, open communication, and continuous improvement for better student outcomes. 

School leaders over the last dozen years worked, up to a point with the union; however, primarily focused on glowing press releases congratulating themselves. Former Chancellor David Banks, probably hoping to return to his throne, wrote an op ed in the NY Daily News praising his administration’s focus on literacy. Gee, I didn’t know teachers were supposed to teach reading and writing.

Will the new guy at Tweed respect classroom teachers and support collaborative school communities? 

 I was hoping for an inclusive process to select a chancellor, c’est la vie