Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic front-runner in the New York City mayoral race, said he wants to double the size of a program for homeless students at public schools in a plan shared ahead of its publication Wednesday with the Daily News.
The small pilot program, called “Every Child and Family Is Known,” pairs students living in Department of Homeless Services shelters with school staff, who hold daily check-ins with children and weekly meetings with their parents. About 1 in 8 public school students do not have a stable place to call home.
The two-page plan, detailing a campaign promise he made in the primary, is to grow the number of students served from 3,200 to 7,000 children in his first year as mayor, before expanding citywide to all homeless families. While Mamdani has floated a number of education ideas — scaling back gifted programs or weakening mayoral control — Wednesday’s position paper marked his first written for K-12 schools.
Mamdani’s campaign said the policy proposal is based on his belief that kids cannot focus on reading or math without stable housing, as well as a commitment to immigrant families living in shelters while they apply for asylum in the United States.
“Fundamental to receiving a quality education is the ability for New York City public school kids to have a roof over their head and the direct support they need to focus in the classroom,” Mamdani said in a statement. “I look forward to expanding Every Child and Family is Known as mayor, increasing resources for families in need, and delivering the public excellence our children deserve.”
Mamdani’s opponents have also recognized youth homelessness as a key issue. Andrew Cuomo, the former governor who is running as an independent, has said he would prioritize schools serving homeless students for conversion to “community schools,” which offer support services for the full family. As part of his platform, GOP nominee Curtis Sliwa denounced the high rate of student homelessness as the city paid for migrant shelters.
To build out the student homelessness program, Mamdani would start with the “highest-need” schools defined as enrolling 10 or more children in DHS shelters, growing the number of participating schools from 125 to 230.
The plan is expected to cost $8.6 million, which the Mamdani campaign said it would fund through a combination of federal Title I and McKinney-Vento funding for students in poverty and temporary housing, as well as city tax levy. President Trump has pushed for changes to both federal programs.
The total price tag is based on estimated costs of $1,200 per child to pay current teachers and other staff members to serve as the so-called “Caring Adults,” as well as books, laundry cards and detergent, and professional development.
“This is a step in the right direction,” said Juvanie Piquant, a spokeswoman for Councilwoman Rita Joseph (D-Brooklyn), who chairs the Education Committee and has endorsed Mamdani. “The school system cannot combat homelessness among youth by itself, and it does need that interagency support and investment.”
Every Child and Family Is Known also has the support of Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos, who announced during her 2025 State of Our Schools speech the Bronx-based program would go citywide this year. Asked if Mamdani would consider keeping Aviles-Ramos on as chancellor given their mutual interest in growing the initiative, the campaign said the candidate has not made any personnel decisions yet but was “heartened” to hear about the modest expansion.
After the plan’s release on Wednesday, policy experts and youth advocates praised Mamdani’s focus on children who lack permanent housing. The number of kids sleeping in shelters each night could fill Forest Hills Stadium, the Barclays Center and the Apollo Theater combined, according to some estimates.
But they also pointed to the need for other initiatives — such as shelter-based coordinators, reforms that would place children in shelters of the same boroughs as their schools, and improved school bus service — to help students get to school, where they could meet with school staff.
About two-thirds of children living in shelters are considered chronically absent, nearly double the rate of their classmates. The student group is also less likely to pass their state exams or graduate from high school.
“Pick a metric: Students in shelter perform significantly worse,” said Jennifer Pringle, a project director at Advocates for Children whose focus is students in temporary housing, reflecting on the data. “We can do better. We, as a city, can do better.”
“If we devote the urgency to this issue that it deserves, we can help turn around some of these outcomes and see real improvement.”
The proposed investment in Every Child and Family Is Known is the first written plan for K-12 schools put forward by Mamdani, who has made free child care the focus of his education agenda, while expressing interest in giving up some of the power over public schools that now sit in the mayor’s office.
The announcement came less than a week after Mamdani responded to a questionnaire in The New York Times that he would eliminate Gifted and Talented admissions in kindergarten, reviving a simmering debate over the separate track for select students, who are less likely to be Black or Hispanic.
Originally Published: October 8, 2025 at 11:17 AM EDT
