While many of us were logged off for some holiday R&R, a handful of consequential developments in the education space quietly unfolded. These stories from the final days of 2025 offer early insight into how questions of oversight and accountability in education will be tackled in the year ahead. 

Mamdani Walks Back Promise to Cede Control of NYC Public Schools

During a New Year’s Eve press conference, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani shared that he would no longer seek to end mayoral control of New York City’s public schools, one of his key—and most controversial—promises made on the campaign trail.

Mr. Mamdani said of the issue: “Though I have concerns about mayoral control, I also acknowledge that New Yorkers need to know where the buck stops: with me.”

What is mayoral control?
  • Under the mayoral control governance model, New York City’s mayor holds direct authority over the largest school system in the nation, which boasts a $43 billion budget, employs about 150,000 staff, and serves nearly 900,000 students. The mayor also oversees the Department of Education and unilaterally appoints the schools chancellor and the majority of the Panel for Education Policy, which functions similarly to a school district board.
  • This governance model was established in 2002 to centralize leadership, replacing 32 separate community school boards. Proponents say that mayoral control clearly assigns stewardship of New York City schools—and accountability for their performance—to the mayor; critics argue that it diminishes the role of parents, teachers, and students in decision-making.

He also picked a new chancellor: During the same press conference, Mr. Mamdani announced Kamar Samuels as Chancellor of New York City Schools, a veteran education leader who most recently served as the superintendent of District 3 in Manhattan. Mr. Samuels is expected to follow through on Mr. Mamdani’s campaign promises of fostering equity and academic excellence through improved resource distribution, integrating student bodies; and teacher training, certification, and hiring initiatives. Mr. Samuels will replace Melissa Aviles-Ramos, the outgoing chancellor appointed by former Mayor Eric Adams. [The New York Times, subscription model; Chalkbeat]

AFT Sues Trump Administration Over Funding Cuts

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the nation’s second-largest teachers’ union, and the nonprofit Brighton Park Neighborhood Council filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education (ED) over its handling of Full-Service Community Schools (FSCS) program grants. The lawsuit, filed December 29 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks judicial relief to reverse non-continuance of the affected grants and potentially extend FSCS appropriations so that funds can be obligated.

FSCS is a congressionally codified program that helps public schools provide wraparound services for children and families, especially those who are low income and in rural areas. 

In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs argue that ED unlawfully terminated funding for 19 FSCS grants. The grantees impacted by the lapse in funding were spread across 11 states and Washington, D.C., and more than $60 million in unused congressionally appropriated funds expired on January 31.

According to ED officials, the 19 grants were terminated because they violated federal civil rights laws, or were inconsistent with the policy priorities of the Trump administration.

Higher Ed Committee Prepares for Next Phase of Negotiations

This week, ED’s Accountability in Higher Education and Access through Demand-driven Workforce Pell (AHEAD) Committee will meet in person for its second negotiated rulemaking session. 

Per ED’s proposed rules and the session agenda, this highly anticipated rulemaking session will focus on the “do no harm” accountability metrics outlined in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which tie degree program eligibility for Title IV loans to earnings outcomes of program graduates for all institutional types, not just for-profits.

In what may have surprised many before the Trump administration started, the proposed rules would continue enforcement of Gainful Employment (GE) regulations, which also apply to non-degree programs (as a reminder, the previous Trump administration did not enforce and ultimately repealed Obama-era GE regulations). This time around, the Trump administration is seeking to enforce GE with some significant changes to the regulations, including only applying it to the loan program (i.e., failing to pass GE metrics would only revoke a program’s federal loan eligibility, not its eligibility for Pell grants) and removing the debt-to-earnings test and therefore only assessing programs based on a graduate earnings threshold.

Additionally, the rules seek to keep—but change—Financial Value Transparency, a major part of the Biden-era Gainful Employment regulations, to what would become known as the Student Tuition and Transparency System (abbreviated to STATS). The committee will also consider changes to Pell grant eligibility for students with “full ride” scholarships and high Student Aid Indexes (SAI). 

Our team will be following the negotiations closely. Please reach out to us with any questions, and stay tuned for our team’s analysis of the rulemaking session’s outcomes.