Education Reform: Taking Back Our Classrooms

Governor’s Note: No government can succeed when its classrooms are hijacked by politics, its students left behind, and its parents shut out. My education policy is about restoring control, accountability, and excellence to New York schools. We’re going to take education back—from the bureaucrats, the unions, and the ideologues—and give it back to families and communities.

What It Takes to Get It Done: This is not a symbolic war on woke ideology. It’s a logistical, budgetary, and legislative battle for the soul of education. As Governor, I will:

• Appoint a new Commissioner of Education aligned with parent-first values and classroom excellence, not political activism.
• Issue Executive Orders establishing SEZs (Student Empowerment Zones) and LEZs (Local Education Zones) where parents vote on curricula, budget use, and teacher accountability boards.
• Introduce the New York Education Rights Act through the legislature to enshrine parental rights, curriculum transparency, and student opt-out protections into state law.
• Reform Regents oversight by appointing a Governor’s Education Accountability Board with subpoena power to investigate misconduct, grade fraud, and wasteful contracts.
• Redirect budget allocations to expand school choice, fund micro-schools, and empower low-income families with school savings accounts (SSAs).

Why This Matters to You

• Only 34% of New York 4th graders are proficient in reading. Fewer than 30% in math. This is not a red vs. blue issue. It’s a collapse in basic literacy.
• More than $29,000 per student is spent annually in New York public schools—the highest in the nation—yet we rank 39th in outcomes.
• Parents have no legal right to review full curricula in most districts. FOIL requests are blocked or delayed, and decisions are made behind closed doors.
• Teachers’ union contracts limit the ability to fire underperforming educators, even in cases of repeated violations or abuse allegations.
• Remote learning exposed deep flaws in district oversight, with thousands of students failing to log in or receive support during school shutdowns.
• Gender and identity curricula have been introduced to children as young as 6 without parental consent or opt-out options in some districts.
• NYC alone employs over 1,800 Department of Education bureaucrats making over $100,000 a year, many with no classroom experience.
• Charter schools consistently outperform public counterparts, yet are blocked by arbitrary caps and political opposition.
• NYC schools serve over 1.1 million students—but nearly 50% never reach grade-level proficiency by graduation.
• School board elections in most NY districts have voter turnout below 10%, allowing special interests to dominate without accountability.

This isn’t just about your kids—it’s about your economy, your taxes, and your future. A state with failing schools becomes a state without a future workforce.