Between now and the start of primary voting in June, NY1 will take a closer look at the key issues in the race for mayor. 

This week’s topic is education. It’s a critical area for mayoral candidates—schools have been under direct mayoral control since 2002.

Albany lawmakers insist on only granting the mayor full oversight of schools for a few years at a time. The current arrangement is up for renewal in 2026.

In the years following the start of the pandemic, the number of students enrolled in city schools fell from more than 1 million to around 900,000.

Last year saw a change in that trend, with enrollment ticking upward for the first time since the pandemic.

Education officials don’t attribute the increase in enrollment to greater confidence in the city system but to the arrival of thousands of migrant families in the city, who then began sending their children to public schools.

Meanwhile, city students have struggled to improve their test scores in reading and math proficiency.

This is data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress: Since 2017, only about 25% of city fourth graders have been rated as proficient or better in reading.

In math, the latest data shows just 33% of fourth graders are considered proficient or better.

Last year, the Department of Education began rolling out its new reading and math curricula.

“NYC Reads” focuses on phonics, while “NYC Solves” uses an approach called Illustrative Math.

NY1 recently spoke with Randi Levine, policy director at Advocates for Children of New York, who said education will play a key role in the race for mayor.

“Education is so important to ensuring that New York City is an attractive place to live and to raise a family, and we have the largest school system in the nation,” said Levine. “So getting education right is not only important for children today, but it’s important for the future of our city and the entire nation.”

Another issue we’re tracking among mayoral candidates is child care.

New York City has some of the highest child care costs in the country.

According to Child Care Aware of America, full-time care for a single child in a center-based program costs nearly $3,000 a month.

For Mayor Eric Adams, the focus of the campaign will be to sell the idea that schools have done well under his administration. Every other candidate will push ideas for reform.