社会主义市长抨击天才与资优项目，认为其加剧不平等
作者：安德鲁·马克·米勒
福克斯新闻
发布时间：2026年2月2日 美国东部时间上午11:00
社会主义纽约市市长佐伦·曼达尼已概述计划缩减该市“天才与资优项目”（Gifted and Talented），引发部分教育专家警告称，此举可能剥夺高成就学生（尤其是来自低收入家庭的学生）的关键学术机会。
近期媒体报道显示，2025年1月就职的曼达尼计划终止针对幼儿园学生的天才与资优项目，并将入学延迟至三年级。批评者认为，这一举措将严重削弱美国最大学区的加速学习选项。
该计划遭到“捍卫教育”（Defending Education）——一个全国性教育监督组织的强烈反对。该组织此前曾在一场持续数年的法律斗争中胜诉，成功保住了纽约州的天才项目，当时争议焦点是招生制度存在歧视性影响，加剧了教育领域的种族不平等。
“上诉法院正确裁定，司法机构不应制定教育政策，”“捍卫教育”副总裁兼法律研究员莎拉·帕沙尔·佩里在接受《福克斯新闻数字版》采访时表示，并补充称该项目符合州教育法和平等保护条款。
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纽约市市长佐伦·曼达尼计划终止针对幼儿园学生的天才与资优项目，并将入学延迟至三年级。（亚当·格雷/彭博社 via 盖蒂图片社）
但佩里警告称，曼达尼的政策议程可能会推翻法院裁定的内容。
“正如我们所料，新晋民主社会主义市长佐伦·曼达尼——其本人出身于昂贵私立学校——承诺关闭天才与资优项目，尽管该项目已帮助无数背景普通的学生充分发挥学术潜力，”佩里对《福克斯新闻数字版》表示。
“剥夺孩子们急需的高级学习机会不仅鲁莽，对一个出生于富裕家庭、就读昂贵私立学校的人而言更是极度虚伪。显然，曼达尼认为只有特权阶层才应享有各类教育机会。”
民主党内部“全面战争”酝酿：曼达尼式候选人在关键竞选中崛起
纽约市政厅
曼达尼辩称，早期天才测试导致学校系统内的不平等，而批评者反驳称，取消选拔性项目对改善困难学生的学业成果作用甚微，反而会主动损害成绩优异者。
“捍卫教育”K-12项目战略举措高级总监保罗·伦科呼应了佩里的担忧，强调此类改革对工人阶级家庭的影响。
“代表那些只想为子女争取最优教育的家长，‘捍卫教育’多年来在法庭上奋力抗争，以保住纽约市的天才与资优项目，抵制试图通过法院将种族问题注入学校系统各个方面的企图，”伦科表示。
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纽约市市长佐伦·曼达尼于2025年11月当选，并于2026年1月1日宣誓就任该市首位社会主义市长。（迈克尔·M·圣地亚哥/盖蒂图片社）
“如果曼达尼市长推进取消这些加速学习机会的计划，这些努力可能会功亏一篑，”他警告道。“学生——尤其是从低收入家庭受益于纽约天才与资优项目的学生——理应获得卓越学术机会，而非一种‘一刀切’的方案，这种方案可能会削弱所有学生的学习效果。”
曼达尼办公室驳斥了“捍卫教育”的指控，称政府反对对5岁儿童进行天才与资优项目测试，但并未全面取消所有年级的高级学习机会。
其办公室表示，重点反而应放在重塑公立学校系统，为所有学生提供“严格”教学，而非在幼年阶段就对孩子进行分流。
曼达尼在市长竞选期间及其对手、以及《华盛顿邮报》编辑委员会（2025年10月）均对其改变项目的计划提出激烈批评。
“谁能想到，作为下任纽约市长热门候选人的佐伦·曼达尼（民主党），会以‘公平’之名宣布计划逐步淘汰该市天才学生的早期小学项目，从而引发轩然大波？聪明孩子的父母希望获得满足其需求的教育，”《华盛顿邮报》写道。“令人震惊。”
安德鲁·马克·米勒是福克斯新闻记者。在Twitter上关注他：@andymarkmiller，向AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com发送线索。
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6388187346112
Education experts warn Mamdani plan could gut NYC gifted programs, hurt low-income students
Socialist mayor takes aim at Gifted and Talented program, believing it contributes to inequality
By Andrew Mark Miller
Fox News
Published February 2, 2026 11:00am EST
Socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has outlined plans to scale back the city’s Gifted and Talented program, prompting some education experts to warn that doing so could deprive high-achieving students, particularly those from low-income families, of critical academic opportunities.
Recent media reports indicate that Mamdani, who took office in January,intends to end the city’s Gifted and Talented program for kindergarten students and delay entry until third grade, a move critics argue would amount to a major weakening of accelerated learning options in the nation’s largest school district.
The plan is drawing sharp criticism from Defending Education, a national education watchdog group that previously fought, and won, a years-long legal battle to preserve New York’s gifted programs after it was argued that the admissions system had discriminatory effects and reinforced racial inequities in education.
“The Court of Appeals rightly concluded that the role of the judiciary is not to make education policy,” Sarah Parshall Perry, vice president and legal fellow at Defending Education, told Fox News Digital, adding that the program complied with state education law and equal protection requirements.
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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani plans to end the city’s Gifted and Talented program for kindergarten students and delay entry until third grade.(Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
But Perry warned that Mamdani’s policy agenda could undo what the courts upheld.
“As we suspected he might, newly minted democratic socialist mayor Zohran Mamdani — himself, a product of expensive private schools — has pledged to shut down the gifted and talented program, despite the fact that it has helped countless students from humble backgrounds achieve their full academic potential,” Perry told Fox News Digital.
“Depriving kids of much-needed advanced learning opportunities is not only foolhardy, but it’s also the height of hypocrisy coming from someone who was born into affluence and attended costly private schools. Apparently, Mamdani believes only the privileged should have access to various educational opportunities.”
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The New York City Hall
Mamdani has argued that early gifted testing contributes to inequities in the school system, though critics counter that dismantling selective programs does little to improve outcomes for struggling students while actively harming high performers.
Paul Runko, senior director of strategic initiatives for K-12 programs at Defending Education, echoed Perry’s concerns, emphasizing the impact such changes could have on working-class families.
“On behalf of parents who simply want the best possible education for their children, Defending Education spent years in court fighting to preserve New York City’s gifted and talented programs against efforts to use the courts to inject race into every aspect of the school system,” Runko said.
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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was elected in November 2025 and sworn in as the city’s first socialist mayor on Jan. 1, 2026.(Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
“Those efforts may succeed if Mayor Zohran Mamdani moves forward with eliminating these accelerated learning opportunities,” he warned. “Students, particularly those from lower-income families who benefit from NYC’s gifted and talented programs, deserve opportunities for academic excellence, not a one-size-fits-all approach that could weaken learning for all students.”
Mamdani’s office pushed back on Defending Education’s characterization, telling Fox News Digital that the administration opposes testing five-year-olds for gifted and talented programs but is not eliminating advanced learning opportunities across all grade levels.
Mamdani’s office said the focus is instead on reshaping the public school system to provide “rigorous” instruction for all students, rather than separating children at an early age.
Mamdani faced heated criticism from his opponents in the mayoral race regarding his plans to change the program, as well as from the Washington Post editorial board in October.
“Who could have guessed that Zohran Mamdani (D), the leading candidate to become the next New York mayor, would provoke a firestorm by announcing this week that he intends to phase out the city’s early elementary school programs for gifted students in the name of equity? Parents of bright children want access to schooling that meets their needs?” The Post wrote. “Shocking.”
Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to AndrewMark.Miller@Fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6388187346112