Mamdani favors plantation education that keeps Blacks oppressed
New York City stands at a crossroads in educational policy. Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani proposes to end NYC’s 286 charter schools that serve more than 150,000 students. He frames it as a progressive approach, but in reality, it risks deepening the very inequalities and inferior education he claims to oppose. By dismantling systems that offer pathways out of poverty through better education – especially for Black and Hispanic students — Mamdani’s plan threatens to further entrench the generational disadvantages that deprive millions of children of the education they need to participate in America’s opportunity economy.
In a questionnaire from the Staten Island Advance, Mamdani said, “I oppose efforts by the state to mandate an expansion of charter school operations in New York City.” He also opposed “the co-locating of charter schools inside public school buildings”. For those already co-located, Mamdani would undertake a comprehensive review of charter school funding to address what he alleges to be the unevenness of our system.”
Mamdani told The Hill that charter schools sidetrack public resources and benefit the wealthy at the expense of lower income families. That is totally untrue – making Mamdani abysmally ignorant of the facts or a consummate liar. Charter schools and other school choice programs provide the most benefits to lowest income Black and Hispanic students currently trapped in underperforming public schools in the segregated ghettoes of our Democrat-controlled cities.
The Data Speaks for Itself. Studies have consistently shown that charter schools and choice programs in urban areas outperform traditional public schools, especially for low-income and minority students. Graduation rates are higher, college enrollment is more common, and parental satisfaction is significantly greater. Students are also safer. These outcomes are not accidental—they are the result of focused leadership, accountability, and a commitment to student success.
To ignore this data is to ignore the voices of the families who benefit from these schools. Mamdani’s plan would silence those voices and replace them with a one-size-fits-all system that has already failed too many.
Mamdani’s plan has received strong pushback from parents – both from those with kids in charter schools and those who would like to enroll their children.
Arlene Rosado, a mother whose child is enrolled in the tenth grade at the Nuasin Next Generation Charter School in the Bronx, said, “I don’t understand why Mamdani would be hostile to charter schools. I think he’s very misinformed.” She told the New York Post that “Charter schools are helping kids in the community. You should always have a choice. Taking that choice away is not cool.”
Reverend Raymond Rivera, founder of the Family Life Academy in the Bronx, said that the candidate must support charter schools if he cares about Black kids.
According to James Merriman, CEO of thee NYC Charter School Center, “As a member of the Assembly, Mr. Mamdani has made clear that he was not supportive of charter schools or even the families that chose them, but he has recently and repeatedly said he would be a mayor for all New Yorkers — and that, of course, has to include the nearly 150,000 charter school students and their families.”
Historic Failure
The public education system in many parts of New York City has long failed its most vulnerable students. In neighborhoods with high concentrations of Black and Hispanic families, schools are overcrowded and underperforming. Charter schools and school choice programs have emerged as lifelines—offering rigorous academics, safer environments, and a culture of high expectations. These alternatives have helped thousands of students gain access to college and career opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach.
Ending school choice would effectively trap students in failing schools based on their zip code. It’s a policy that ignores the lived reality of families who desperately seek better options for their children. It’s not just bad policy—it’s a moral failure.
Consequences of Educational Neglect
Education is the foundation of economic mobility. When students are denied access to quality education, they are also denied access to the jobs, careers, and financial independence that come with it. The long-term consequences are staggering:
- Higher unemployment: Poor education leads to limited job prospects, especially in a competitive, skills-based economy.
- Generational poverty: Without access to college or vocational training, families remain stuck in cycles of welfare dependency.
- Society loses the contributions of millions of talented individuals who could be innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders.
The cost of educational neglect isn’t just borne by the students—it’s paid by all of us. Taxpayers fund welfare programs, subsidize housing, and absorb the social costs of crime and instability in communities where opportunity has been systematically denied.
Education and Segregation
New York City is a paradox. It is a global capital of wealth and innovation, surrounding pockets of deep poverty and segregation. In many minority neighborhoods, economic vitality is absent. Streets are unsafe, housing is dilapidated, and job opportunities are scarce. These communities function like isolated islands—cut off from the upward mobility that defines the American dream. This is the byproduct of systemic inferior education.
Charter schools and school choice programs have been among the few bridges connecting these islands to the mainland. They offer students a chance to escape the limitations of their environment and participate in the broader economy. Mamdani’s plan would sever these bridges, reinforcing the boundaries of segregation and economic exclusion.
The Immorality of Denied Education
There is no greater injustice than denying a child the chance to succeed. A good education is not a privilege. It is a necessity. And when that necessity is withheld from minority students, it becomes a form of institutional racism and systemic oppression. Mamdani’s proposal, however well-intentioned, fails to confront this reality. He would continue to doom millions of Black and Hispanic children to poor quality education – and a life of personal dispair.
As long as the public schools in our urban ghettoes ae failing the children, we should be expanding school choice. We should be investing in high-performing charter schools, supporting innovation in curriculum, and empowering parents and students to choose the best educational path. Reform does not mean forcing every child into the same failing system—it means ensuring every child has access to excellence.
Zohran Mamdani’s plan to end school choice may be articulated as reform and equity, but it risks perpetuating the very injustices it seeks to solve. By denying minority students access to quality education, it condemns them to a future of limited opportunity and economic dependence.
Charter schools and other school choice programs have been gaining popularity in recent – with most opposition coming from school unions and city administrations benefiting from huge union political donations.
Trump Acts
President Trump has called school choice “the civil rights issue of our time”. He issued a sweeping Executive Order titled “Expanding Educational Freedom and Opportunity for Families.” It directs the Department of Education to use federal formula funds to support K-12 scholarship programs … to prioritize school choice programs in its discretionary grants … to allow the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to allow block grant funds to support private and faith-based education … to enable military families to use federal funds for school choice … and for the Bureau of Indian Affairs to use federal funds for school choice programs on reservations.
Congressional Action
Congress is advancing school choice through its “Big Beautiful Bill.” It includes the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA) that allows individuals to donate to Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs) and receive a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit. Families earning up to 300% of the median income in their area can use scholarships for tuition, tutoring, books, online classes, and more.
Ending Common Core and Expanding School Choice Act (HR 83) would allow federal funds for disadvantaged children to follow them to public, charter, private, or supplemental education programs. It is currently in committee.
In many ways, Mamdani is facing an uphill battle in attempting to block school choice. Let us hope that for the millions of mostly Black and Hispanic children who could benefit, Mandana’s ill-conceived and politically motivated plans fail
So, there ‘tis.
Now this is Frankly Deranged’s kind of Ugandan millionaire (from mommy and daddy’s money) mild mannered terrorist guy.
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Frankly Deranged likes to think he’s smarter than any other,most likely always says he graduated at the top of his class…like Joey. You have to remember that he was snookered by, then voted for:
“The significance of the passage of time, right? The significance of the passage of time. So when you think about it, there is great significance to the passage of time.” She didn’t need ONE democrat vote to be the chosen one in the democratic party.
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Before her he proudly voted for Joe’THE PEDO’ Biden. Yes the hair sniffer of little girls in chief. He took showers with HIS (not even his stepchild) 15 year old daughter who announced it to the world… And we know this is beyond a shadow of a doubt because THE site of ALL sites SNOPES had to admit it was true while previously denying it was true…..
This is THE STRATEGY they’ve been using since beginning of time and will be to the end of their time.. It’s what has put them leaderless, without direction and frowned on by their own lunatic fringe.
BIDEN: “And by the way, you know, I sit on the stand, and it’s getting hot, I’ve got hairy legs that turn — that — that — that turn — um, blonde in the sun. And the kids used to come up and reach in the pool and rub my leg down so it was straight and watch the hair come back up again. They’d look at it. So, I learned about roaches, I learned about kids jumping on my lap, and I’ve loved kids jumping on my lap.”
JD, I spell my fake name Frank Danger. I understand your name, JD, to stand for Jissom Douchebag. At least that’s what I heard. Your post seems deranged and delusional, a jissom filled douchebag; especially given I haven’t even commented. If this is your way of starting a conversation or discussion, you totally suck.
You call me deranged and then launch into an entire tirade about Mamdani where I have not even commented one way or the other on this article and very little about Mamdani in general. I have been pretty clear that I am not from New York City, could care less about this topic, and wonder why it’s so important to all you Magarats.
I appear to have become a worm inside your brain. Your obsession with me abounds and you must comment about me, and me personally, and my personality, even when I haven’t commented on a topic at all. I have never said I’m smarter than anyone here, clearly, I have noted that I have not graduated top of my class, and I did not vote for Harris or Hillary. I voted against Trump.
Talk about deranged, you claim I have a strategy, that I am they, and then go totally off the rails about Biden’s whatever. Then you print a quote that you attributed to Biden out of context to spin his suggested weirdness. Where are the Epstein files? For Biden, it’s more a generational thing which, in your partisan hatred, consumes you. I know, because I am in it just for being a liberal. That’s just weird.
You never meet me in discussion on the facts in order to prove your poor points with evidence to support. All you can do is spew. Vitriolic tirades of a personal nature. I would love to meet you on the field of debate, but you appear to be a weak unit, unable. Piss off on the personal attacks.
Biden responded to you asswipes at the Convention for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers: “ I’m sorry I didn’t understand more, I’m not sorry for any of my intentions. I’m not sorry for anything I have ever done. I’ve never been disrespectful intentionally to a man or a woman.” Let’s see you provide actual proof that Biden is wrong and you are not a stupid fool.
As Biden took the stage he hugged the union’s president, saying: “ I just want you to know I had permission to hug Lonnie.” And I just wanted you to know that I have permission to say fuck off with your innuendo. Or just stick in innuendo. Please try to keep your delusions to yourself, I am sorry that I have become your earworm, and I hope you can figure out a way to end the hatred you seem to thrive on. However, thanks to you, I did read this article, and I will comment. Thanks.
I spell my name, Danger. And I am Frank that I’m here for the issues, nothing more.
Dunger you post shit every day that proves your stupidity
Frankly, the old “I didn’t vote for _____.I voted against _____ ” . Is older than, Russia Russia Russia… The weak 34,J6 and you babbling on about President Trump because of your TDS. You voted for THE TALKING HEAD AND THE WALKING DEAD because they were the closest imps that saw the world as you do. You also however,knew that things would get ugly with Trump back in office and that’s the only REAL issue that you have been right about, every one of you and your comrades are uglier than home-made sin..
Pelosi has openly admitted on camera to her daughter that J6 was entirely her fault… Merchan had pegged President Trump guilty before he stepped foot into a courtroom…and despite the judge’s daughter raising $93 million for the dingbat and Schiff.plus his Trump hating wife’s TDS case he would not recuse himself because if he did your party knew no other judge could have brought the case back up to that level(you can’t possibly believe ne made that decision by himself,but then again you are you) because it was weak in the first place and in the end President Donald Trump received an unconditional discharge for his criminal conviction in New York on all of THE 34, meaning he will not face fines, prison or any other penalties.
“Sir, I wish you godspeed as you assume the office of the President,” Merchan said before leaving the bench.
John Bolton who’s fallen out with Trump since serving as his national security adviser says the case is even weaker than he feared.
I don’t hate, i don’t know you,but chances are I would because I love my country while you loathe it… Its so bad here that you can come on here and trash EVERYTHING about it,go on your merry fucking way..come back and do it again and again….. Remember when the creator of the entire Russia Russia Russia BS was in office along with his THIS IS A REALLY BIG FUCKING DEAL sidekick they in true communist fashion hunted Americans down in both of their times in office.
Methdunger: I spell my name: danger. You can do it if you try.
I have no doubt that I post stupid stuff every day. Given your post, it’s pretty obvious that this one will be stupid in that it’s in a reply to you.
As do post stupid stuff.
The difference is, with facts, sources, and evidence, I prove the false nature of many of your posts. All you do is spew.
So, once again, prove it or STFU.
It doesn’t matter how you spell it because you are Frankiy Deranged. You fucking lunatic nutjobs have never understood that when you try to insult us its funny and falls to the ground. Because you don’t stand for anything that is for America, nothing about you is American. To us you’re just the “FUCKERS WITH FARAWAY EYES!”
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You’re THE morons who actually believe that when you go on Y.T., TRUTH, FB, or X and declare that you won’t be going to Thanksgiving, Christmas or any and all birthdays because your families love GOD, love their family, country and freedoms… That you’re going to hurt our feelies when in fact we are in jubilation thankful for a prayer being heard and eyes spared of bullnose rings, pink,green half shaved brainpans and bitches with dicks.
It doesn’t matter how you spell it because you are Frankiy Deranged. You fucking lunatic nutjobs have never understood that when you try to insult us its funny and falls to the ground. Because you don’t stand for anything that is for America, nothing about you is American. To us you’re just the “FUCKERS WITH FARAWAY EYES!”
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You’re THE morons who actually believe that when you go on Y.T., TRUTH, FB, or X and declare that you won’t be going to Thanksgiving, Christmas or any and all birthdays because your families love GOD, love their family, country and freedoms… That you’re going to hurt our feelies when in fact we are in jubilation thankful for a prayer being heard and eyes spared of bullnose rings, pink,green half shaved brainpans and bitches with dicks.
JD going postal at 2 and 3am; I would say “priceless,” but it is just sad.
Hope you get better.
Be happy.
Because JD wants to know, I read Larry’s view, more for the Charter School aspects than Mr. Mamdani.
I am no charter school expert, but even I can tell “Plantation Schools” is for effect and not a reality since WTF does it even mean? He’s referring to Democrats in cities keeping the black man down whereas it’s milk n honey in Republican cities if only the blacks could make it there…. Oye. I liked this story once I got past the spin. In general, I agree with the author. But he spins by omission as noted below. Pretty obvious too.
Horist knows what Mamdani plans, but two days ago, the NYTimes said: “But with three months until the general election, the state assemblyman’s agenda for New York’s public school system — the biggest in the United States — remains far less clear.” The author has spin-fully cobbled together a “plan” from different sound bites, some from before the campaign.
What we know from the Times is that the NYC mayor has more control over schools than most city mayors; Mamdani wants to end that. The mayor today has complete control. Can’t imagine Horist disagrees. Second, he backed down from calling for elimination of entrance exams at 8 elite schools; I don’t like that, but Horist probably does. He also calls for elimination of entrance exams at middle schools, that’s another 100 schools. I like that since all men are created equal. He opposes expanding charter schools, although not very forcefully.
I believe in public schools and, by extension, public charter schools. But anyone should be able to go to any public school, given there is a desk. I would also like all public-school student to be funded equally, given regional differences due to COLA. And we need to get our statistics in order so that we can find “best-in-class” wherever we find it and then disseminate it across the entire system. Private schools are outside of this due to their non-public nature.
NYC schools, like many cities, are good, bad, and ugly. Location, location, location. According to AI, the best urban schools are in: Ann Arbor, Arlington, Austin, Boston, Chicago-area schools are home to some of the nation’s top school districts, including Adlai E. Stevenson High School District 125, Glenbrook High School District 225, and Evanston Township High School District 202; Overland Park, Raleigh, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Princeton Public Schools. I dunno — seems like some Democrats in that list….. And the worst: Visalia, Bakersfield, Modesto, Fresno, Stockton, Salinas, Brownsville-Harlingen, McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, El Paso, Philadelphia, and Camden. Camden? Think about that one given NJ has one of the best systems in the USA and that even Camden can’t bring it down. WOW. Also, seems to be some Republican strongholds in that list.
You think cities are bad, guess the red and blue differences at a state level where red is worse than blue: statistically speaking.
My take is screw the local funding and make all schools funded equally. There is no reason one school should have better funding than another. Both NYC and Chicago have some of the worst and the best schools around, for example. How can there be such a spread? One reason is specialization and restrictive applications. Easy to succeed when all you take is self-motivated type A’s. Easy to win when you cheery pick and then leave the rest to public schools. But is that fair? Another is funding leaning on local funding as a process.
Also, let’s go two more years for public school funding of AA degrees or equivalent. We do want to have the most educated workforce in the world. We need that to remain competitive. HS buys you little in the modern world. You need a better skill.
My understanding is that there are public schools, private schools, and public charter schools. Most public charter schools allow all to apply; if too many apply, there is a lottery. That’s great. So, while many don’t pick and choose for success, some do. Perhaps Larry knows the percentages. Worse yet, some tend to weed folks out once they get there to create a highly selective environment like private schools. The Success School in NYC that is touted here is one of the schools often faulted for down-stream cherry-picking by ousting students that lower their curve. Public is public in my book.
I concur with the author that urban public charter schools have better results than public schools. Over and over. Many different regions. But no one really knows why and much argument on the reasons. Even the demographics don’t make sense as noted below. Also, the author leaves out that suburban and rural public charter schools do not have better results than public schools. Weird. Why? Also, urban public charter schools are more or less diverse than urban public schools, depending on vantage point. As in more blacks and Hispanics in charter, more whites in public schools in urban areas. Why? Urban whites really that stupid? Weird again. Think suburban and rural may turn that demographic on its head. Weird again.
For those thinking on charter schools, my previous research turned up one fact leading to one recommendation above all others. The fact: charter schools can be good, can be bad too. They go out of business all the time. Check your recommendations, references, and any statistics you can before you apply. Best advice out there whether urban, suburban, or rural, but more so, the more rural you get.
As to the rest: I offer NYTimes on urban vs. suburban charter school comparison: *https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/22/upshot/a-suburban-urban-divide-in-charter-school-success-rates.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare*
And Brookings on same: *https://www.brookings.edu/articles/probing-charter-schools-differential-success-in-urban-and-nonurban-settings/*
And, my favorite: charter school demographics from PEW (weird, weird, weird): *https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/06/06/us-public-private-and-charter-schools-in-5-charts/*
Bottom line: I would like one school system for all that rates best in class in the world. Sans that, competition is good, especially if all are public, but must be a level playing field for entrance and matriculation, IMO. Otherwise, it’s a private school. I don’t think anyone fully understands who is better, and why, but it’s clear that urban charter schools are doing something that public schools should emulate. I am just not 100% clear on what exactly that is and can’t really find much more than sides of the fence yelling at each other.
The Union either needs to step up and compete with charter schools or get out of the way and let the best schools win. For the students. For America.
In my own case, it was drilled in at an early age, you take out what you put in and what will be, is up to me. My kids too. And we all did OK, but I admit: I used to commute 15 miles to get to a better High School. Think it helped, but honestly, hard to tell. I was a very lazy student, homelife issues, and turned off to everything in my youth. Played hooky, went skiing, whatever. Until college.
Spin notes: The author states: “Mamdani told The Hill that charter schools sidetrack public resources.” While the statement is factually correct, public charter and public schools vie for the same funds, as far as I can tell, Mamdani never told The Hill that. Instead, some punk Israeli hard-right journalist hotshot — up and coming big time, Gregory Lyakhov, made that up for his op ed without sourcing.
While I cannot find an education plan from Mamdani, nor sources for much of the author’s claims, the fact a Mamdani plan is missing is a real black mark for his campaign. He has other plans, but basically some statement on education and is punting a plan on this one so far. Demanding a plan, especially given the scuttlebutt, is not out of place. At all.
To Larry’s There ’tis there always is the issue about opinions. A caveat that goes like this: ” So you say”. In a day when everything someone says comes under scrutiny. Assumptions that the words coming from You or me, Fox and CNN, Britebart or MSNBC, are trusted and accurate sources of information. Who follows the WSJ, The Washington Post, or any of media’s journalism multitude? Usually we follow the rag or blog that aligns with whatever is our political flavor of the day.
Since PBP isn’t anything close to my flavor on any day. Why would I check in on PBP and read what Horist is rattling on about today, So, at times my following a particular writer has more to do with personality than politics. PBP has some personality dandies with the bland politics consistent with rabid conservatism. Which is where PBP stakes its claim to fame. On the other hand, my interest in human interaction with really on the world is peeked when politics enter the frame. Not surprisingly I found that a person’s personality follows their politics directly. Someone does not cross pollinate between their liberal political leanings and the conservative personality traits they exhibit among friends and relatives. A liberal Republican everyone knows is an oxymoron in America.
When someone identifies with the Republican Party their prrsonality’s general type is predictable,
The reader’s reply space has long been the place where conservative minds have come to die. They need not die if a modicum of decency, civility, and self control prevailed in that haloed First Amendment freedom open forum space. What has transpired instead is more like something on the order of the shootout at the OK Corral. It’s fatal for the mentally slow of reflexes, short on imaginative vocabulary punch, long on derisive nonsensical mere phrases appearing like graffiti on the page.
Larry’s writings of late seem the same phrasing and commentary in each so that it’s less fresh and more formulaic. Re-spinning of long yarns passed off as ” many people don’t know this” false intimidation and smugness.
On aware that most people have known for years the tail Trump thinks only he is up to speed on. It’s awkward and embarrassing for most people listening to Trump. Oblivious to his audiences’ confused expressions, Trump forges on with his story and has the details far out of context and he has not proven he has the facts straight . Worse yet, he leaves and his audience wonders of the relevancy his story had in the middle of everything else going on in government’s three branches.
The usual suspects, aka Larry’s rat pack continues their assault on intelligent friendly discussion. No surprise there . PBP was founded on negativity and anti serious consideration of all points giving evidence of truth and plausibility.
Politics in America is fiercely competitive. At any moment when politics raises its snake like appearance immediately desired are drawn dividing the group into them and us. The no holds barred street fight commences.One would think that conservatives might fold and run, both persuasions stand their ground.
PBP cheers on the roughest uncivilized and rude talking of the combatants while piling lie on lie in Trump like fashion.
I don’t see what makes the Republican Party ramp up hate and retribution . They are the party having won all the marbles why doesn’t their anger abate a bit. Really guys give it up. Why push it to the next worst place. Things will not end well when vengeance comes before common sense.level headed cooperation.
That’s an ugly way in this life. Who can sustain so perverse a philosophy founded on zero sum inequality.
No one will ever read these lines, I know. Few have read much less understand others’ point of view. The hypocrisy in the GOP is deeply ingrained in its political charter.
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?up the angerthe lot dead