{"id":6526,"date":"2026-08-14T11:38:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T11:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6526"},"modified":"2026-08-14T11:38:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T11:38:25","slug":"teachers-union-boss-calls-out-mamdani-admin-over-embarrassing-nyc-school-reading-scores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6526","title":{"rendered":"Teachers union boss calls out Mamdani admin over embarrassing NYC school reading scores"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Zo\u2019s honeymoon with the teachers union is over.<\/p>\n

The boss of the influential teachers union called out Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s administration\u2019s literacy initiative after more than half of city\u2019s public school kids failed their reading proficiency exams.<\/p>\n

Read more Virginia\u2019s Democrats show us how to wreck a state in 5 easy steps<\/a><\/p>\n

United Federation President Mike Mulgrew took aim at the NYC Reads program after the embarrassing showing by students in grades 3-5 on their state English Language Arts exam, showing a rift with the labor group and the democratic socialist mayor eight months into his term. <\/p>\n

The public salvo also comes while Mamdani weighs whether to sign or veto legislation to boost the pay of thousands of paraprofessionals \u2014 a promise he explicitly made at a press conference last year when the UFT endorsed him in his run for mayor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe DOE [Department of Education] needs to make sure each school has a clear instructional plan,\u201d Mulgrew said of the NYC Reads phase-in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat means streamlining what schools are doing, making sure programs align, and eliminating unnecessary paperwork and assessments,\u201d Mulgrew said. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to support it if they want to implement it the way they did this past school year.\u201d<\/p>\n

City public school students in grades 3-8 saw a 6% drop in their ELA scores from last year, with just about half overall rating proficient.<\/p>\n

The mandated NYC Reads program started under former Mayor Eric Adams and was extended this year by Mamdani and his point man at the city Department of Education, Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the Daily News, Mulgrew complained that supplemental programs added to the main literacy curriculum were a flop, a characterization that the DOE disputed.<\/p>\n

During a Thursday press event, Mamdani defended the reading program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI continue to be confident in NYC Reads. And it is developed with the real findings of what\u2019s been effective across the country in mind,\u201d Mamdani said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we know that it is a critical thing that we equip our public school students with,\u201d the mayor added. \u201cWe look forward to being in conversation with the UFT as we look to not only build upon the successes of the last few years, but to go beyond that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sources said Mulgrew\u2019s preemptive strike is an attempt to get ahead of the fallout from the declining test scores to deflect blame from unionized teachers for the poor showing.<\/p>\n

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In addition, education insiders said Mulgrew might have bitten his tongue if he didn\u2019t have a separate, smoldering tug of war with Mamdani over pay for paraprofessionals.<\/p>\n

Paraprofessionals\u2019 skimpy $32,000-a-year base pay became a hot-button issue last year with Mulgrew rallying on City Hall\u2019s steps to support a bill to raise it by $10,000 outside of collective bargaining contracts.<\/p>\n

During his successful mayoral campaign last year, Mamdani appeared at a press conference where he accepted the endorsement of the UFT and promised to approve legislation to boost the pay for paras.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will be proud to continue to support the passage of Intro Bill 1261 \u2026. that addresses the fact that there are too many open positions right now for paraprofessionals across the city because that job simply doesn\u2019t pay enough,\u201d Mamdani said then, with Mulgrew standing behind him.<\/p>\n

The council passed the controversial $10,000 pay bump last month.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

But government watchdogs said Mamdani would set a bad precedent by signing the bill, because it will undermine collective bargaining with other unions who would also run to the City Council to get what they couldn\u2019t win at the bargaining table with the administration.<\/p>\n

After the council passed the para pay bill, a City Hall spokesperson said Mamdani\u2019s position was that pay raises were best resolved through collective bargaining, not through legislation \u2014 a shift in the mayor\u2019s position from the campaign.<\/p>\n

The spokesperson then contended the council\u2019s bill directly violated the state\u2019s collective bargaining law.<\/p>\n

Mulgrew said it\u2019s time for Mamdani to deliver a pay boost for paras now, complaining the mayor\u2019s change in tune is unacceptable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe school system can\u2019t hire enough paraprofessionals; so our special needs students are not getting the services they are legally entitled to,\u201d Mulgrew said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is costing city taxpayers more than a billion dollars a year in lawsuits. We need to fix this, and we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Surrogate McKenna West vows legal fight against parents of baby they wanted her to abort, lawyer says: \u2018She is the mother\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UFT President Mike Mulgrew blasted Mayor Zohran Mamdani after NYC reading scores dropped 6%, amid a standoff over paraprofessional pay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-metro"],"yoast_head":"\nTeachers union boss calls out Mamdani admin over embarrassing NYC school reading scores - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=6526\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Teachers union boss calls out Mamdani admin over embarrassing NYC school reading scores - 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