Who is Kamar Samuels? Zohran Mamdani’s expected pick for NYC schools chancellor

Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York City, is expected to announce on Wednesday that he will appoint Kamar Samuels as the city’s next schools chancellor, according to three people with direct knowledge of the plan. The reporting was first published by The New York Times.The choice of Samuels, a long-serving figure in New York City’s public education system, offers the clearest indication so far of Mamdani’s approach to schools as he prepares to take office on Thursday. During the campaign and in the weeks after the election, Mamdani faced questions about the absence of a detailed education agenda.Samuels has worked in the country’s largest public school system for roughly two decades. He began his career as an elementary school teacher in the Bronx and later served as a principal and local superintendent. Supporters describe him as a leader focused on equity and on improving outcomes for students who have historically been underserved.

A major decision for a vast system

Few decisions are as consequential for a New York City mayor as the selection of a schools chancellor. The city’s education system operates more than 1,500 schools, serves about 880,000 students from preschool through grade 12, and has an annual operating budget exceeding $40 billion.Mamdani’s decision comes at a difficult moment for public education. The school system faces uncertainty over federal funding under the Trump administration, alongside persistent challenges including gaps in outcomes for students with disabilities and a record level of student homelessness.According to The New York Times, Mamdani’s team had interviewed several candidates in recent weeks, asked them to outline priorities for the first three months of the administration, and consulted senior advisers before settling on Samuels. The people familiar with the process spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the decision publicly.

A record on integration

Samuels is best known in New York for his work on school integration, particularly during his tenure as a local superintendent in upper Manhattan and northwest Brooklyn. He led efforts to merge schools and reduce segregation, and explored replacing traditional gifted and talented programmes with International Baccalaureate programmes.“Access to high-quality educational experiences is how I start,” Samuels said in an interview last year, as quoted by The New York Times. “Especially in New York, when I know there are deep disparities.”His expected appointment is widely read as a signal that desegregation could become a priority for Mamdani, who included the issue in his campaign platform but offered limited detail on how he would pursue it.At the same time, the choice has raised concerns among some families who worry about potential cuts to selective academic programmes and gifted education.

Unanswered questions on governance

It remains unclear how Samuels would approach one of Mamdani’s most ambitious proposals: ending mayoral control of the school system and expanding the role of parents, teachers and students in decision-making.Mamdani has said that improving schools also requires addressing broader conditions affecting children’s lives, including housing instability and food insecurity. He has spoken about recruiting more teachers and reducing wasteful spending, but has yet to publish a comprehensive education plan.David C. Banks, who served as schools chancellor under Mayor Eric Adams, said earlier this month that the incoming administration needed to be more forthcoming. “It’s important to know, ‘What’s the mayor’s vision?’” Banks wrote on social media, according to The New York Times. “We’ve not really heard much.”

Timing and transition

The timing of the expected announcement, less than a day before Mamdani’s inauguration, has struck some education leaders as late. Still, there is precedent. Before his first term, Bill de Blasio named his schools chancellor, Carmen Fariña, two days before his swearing-in.Samuels will face a rapid transition as he begins assembling his leadership team and preparing to run one of the most complex education bureaucracies in the United States.Matt Gonzales, a former member of a school diversity advisory panel under de Blasio, said Samuels was prepared for the role. “His record particularly on educational equity and school integration are things that bring me a lot of excitement,” Gonzales said, as quoted by The New York Times.

Falling enrolment and difficult choices

Samuels is expected to take charge at a time when public school enrolment has declined significantly. The drop has increased the likelihood that the Mamdani administration will need to consider school mergers or closures, decisions that are often contentious for families.Samuels confronted similar challenges as a local superintendent. His approach to merging schools earned praise from some city officials, who have pointed to it as a possible model for the broader system.Micah Lasher, a state lawmaker whose Manhattan district Samuels has overseen, described him as “an absolutely superb educator and leader,” according to The New York Times. Lasher said Samuels combined administrative steadiness with a capacity for change.For Mamdani, the expected appointment does not resolve the broader debate over his education agenda. But by turning to a long-serving insider with a clear record on integration and equity, the mayor-elect has offered his first concrete signal of how he may seek to lead New York City’s public schools.