Kamar Samuels, a veteran educator with over 20 years of work within New York City schools, has been appointed the new chancellor of the city’s Department of Education by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
During his mayoral campaign, Mamdani didn’t outline a policy agenda for New York City’s schools. “Education has not been a focal point in the election,” Chalkbeat wrote this past September. “Even though the school system is the city’s largest department and commands a budget of more than $41 billion with roughly 146,000 employees.”
Mamdani had said he wanted to give families more power, give teachers more say, support homeless and immigrant students, remove mayoral control, and give communities a greater voice. Later, he changed his position on mayoral control.
Here are five key facts to know about the new head of the New York City Department of Education.
1. Background: From Kingston to New York classrooms
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Samuels has built a two-decade-long career in education since moving to New York. He began as a participant in the NYC Teaching Fellows program, teaching at PS 41 and PS/MS 194 in the Bronx. He later served as principal of the Bronx Writing Academy before moving on to district administration.
2. Championing of “NYC Reads” and instructional reform
While serving as superintendent of Manhattan’s District 3, Samuels oversaw the implementation of the “NYC Reads” literacy initiative. Under his leadership, the district reported a 5% increase in literacy outcomes. Samuels’ appointment as NYC chancellor suggests that Mamdani will maintain and refine the city’s current shift toward phonics-based reading instruction.
3. Samuels believes integration and equity are choices
As Superintendent in Brooklyn’s District 13 and Manhattan’s District 3, Samuels led controversial yet successful school mergers to foster racial and socioeconomic diversity. He replaced some traditional “Gifted and Talented” programs with the International Baccalaureate (IB) model, aiming for schoolwide enrichment rather than segregated tracks. In his appointment speech, he emphasized that “Equity is not an abstract idea; it’s a set of choices we make together.”
4. Parent engagement and promises of a new era of community power
Samuels will serve as chancellor under Mayor Mamdani’s “modified” version of mayoral control. The Mamdani administration plans to ask the state for an extension of the current mayoral control of NYC schools. The administration wants to change how the Community Education Council (CEC)’s monthly public meetings are scheduled to make it easier for working parents to attend. They also want to strengthen parent coordinators’ roles so they are more than administrative coordinators and can effectively organize parents in the school community.
5. Samuels is a leader in education and finance
Before entering education, Samuels worked as a finance manager for the NBA. He has a master’s in educational leadership from Baruch College.