{
  "id": 17285459,
  "title": "NYC’s enrollment free fall leaves Mamdani and Samuels with a small schools crisis. What will they do?",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/30/nycs-enrollment-free-fall-leaves-mamdani-and-samuels-with-a-small",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-30T20:25:15.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Chalkbeat",
    "slug": "chalkbeat",
    "url": "https://www.chalkbeat.org/newyork/2026/10/30/nyc-mamdani-samuels-plan-for-small-schools-crisis-mergers-closures/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Nearly a year into his administration, NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has not proposed a strategy to tackle the small schools crisis, which is driven by declining enrollment. This crisis has worsened over the years, with the number of schools with fewer than 250 students increasing eightfold from 42 to 335 over the past 25 years. At the same time, K-12 student enrollment in public schools has dropped by 187,000 over the past decade, projected to decline further in the coming decade.\n\nFormer Deputy Chancellor Karin Goldmark noted that the volume of required actions makes the tasks daunting for superintendents and principals. Meanwhile, Mayor-elect Kamar Samuels has taken a community-driven approach to addressing the issue, launching working groups in five districts to develop plans for consolidating schools. Samuels prefers that future plans come from communities rather than being imposed top-down and promised to expand these groups citywide. However, it remains to be seen whether the Mamdani administration will invest the necessary time and political capital to close and merge schools at scale.\n\nEducation Department spokesperson Nicole Brownstein highlighted the advantages of larger schools in offering advanced coursework, enrichment, and opportunities for students. However, Samuels emphasized that every school community is unique and local decision-making is crucial. The origins of the crisis can be traced back to the policies of previous administrations, which opened more schools but struggled to close them despite initial promises of increased choice and weeding out weak schools. The current system has resulted in increased costs, with the number of principals and assistant principals rising since 2010. De Blasio's \"hold harmless\" policy, introduced in 2020, has kept school budgets steady despite enrollment losses, and the city has spent nearly $2 billion since then.",
  "summary": "This is the third story in a three-part series. Read parts one and two here. And keep Chalkbeat’s valuable education coverage at the top of your feeds by clicking here and checking the box next to our name. Nearly a year into his administration, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has not shared a vision for addressing many of the pressing challenges facing the New York City school system. One of the most…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}