Zohran Mamdani's first New York City budget has quietly pumped an extra $680 million into the public school system for fiscal year 2027, city documents show, lifting Department of Education spending to $38.6 billion while trimming $29 million from the NYPD. The revised figures, released without fanfare days after the budget deal was approved on 29 June, push school funding to nearly a third of the Big Apple's record $126 billion spending plan.
Mamdani, elected mayor in 2025 on a progressive platform, repeatedly pledged to rein in the Department of Education's contract and consultancy costs. Earlier this year, his office had floated a smaller school budget and talked tough about inefficiencies at the country's largest public school district. Instead, the adopted plan hands the DOE almost $4 billion more than last year, even as student numbers continue to slide and basic performance indicators remain stubbornly flat.
