Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani is proposing to reduce the mayor’s control over New York City’s schools and instead create a co-governance model that shares authority with parents, educators, and local councils. Supporters see this as a step toward greater accountability and inclusion, while critics warn it could lead to “confusion and chaos.” Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari, AQE’s co-executive director, acknowledged that changing the current system will take time, noting that since mayoral control was established through former Mayor Bloomberg’s push to centralize power, “we should have as much time to make it work and figure it out as they gave to mayoral control.”