As families across the city return to school, we must confront the failures of our education system and reimagine schools worthy of the children they serve.

The foundation of New York’s safety, prosperity and economic strength rests on education.

My mother was a teacher, and I grew up knowing that teaching is the noblest profession.

Yet too many children and educators are being let down by a system that has failed its basic promise: preparing every child for success.

Despite spending nearly double the national average per pupil, results remain abysmal.

In 40% of schools, fewer than half of students are proficient in math. In 43%, fewer than half are proficient in English.

Among black and Latino students, the disparities are even worse.

These are not statistics, they’re alarm bells.

Lowering standards to inflate passing rates only makes the problem worse.

We can’t look away or accept excuses from a bureaucracy that has failed for too long. As mayor, the buck will stop with me.

That is why I announced my Overhaul NYC Schools Plan, built on three pillars: excellence, access and innovation — closing failing schools, expanding opportunity and aligning education with the jobs of tomorrow.

Excellence: We will no longer allow students to languish in schools that consistently fail them.

Any school that ranks in the bottom 5% on state exams over five years or graduates fewer than 60% of its students will be replaced.

Each school will reopen with a proven, high-performing model tailored to its community: a charter school or a specialized school.

Each will operate under a five-year contract tied to proficiency, graduation and readiness.

Parents and community organizations will have a voice in the redesign. Students from closing schools will be guaranteed placement in the new model or a nearby high-quality school, giving them results, not promises.

Access: Opportunity begins with universal access. My plan guarantees full-day 3-K for every three-year-old, unified inside public schools to ensure seamless support from birth through kindergarten.

We will double specialized high schools like Bronx Science from nine to 18, expanding rigorous programs in STEM and emerging fields like AI and cybersecurity.

The Specialized High School Admissions Test will remain the admissions standard, while prep programs will expand in underserved neighborhoods so all students have a fair shot.

We will raise the charter-school cap, ensuring high-quality options where they are needed most.

In neighborhoods like the South Bronx, some charter classrooms already exceed 90% pass rates. 

And we will expand community schools into hubs offering academics, mental health services, afterschool programs and job training.

Every student will have access to tutoring, sports and the arts.

Innovation: Excellence requires higher standards and stronger support. We will modernize curricula so students graduate with not only literacy and math but also skills in coding, robotics, financial literacy and new technologies.

Every child, no matter the zip code, deserves a qualified teacher. 

We will support teachers through a “Teach Where It Counts” Fund, offering $5,000 to $10,000 stipends for educators in shortage areas like STEM and special education, or in schools with high turnover. 

Students should graduate with a diploma and career experience.

We will double Early College and P-TECH programs by 2029, guarantee dual enrollment by 10th grade and ensure every 11th-grader has access to an internship or apprenticeship. 

The economy of tomorrow will be driven by green energy, technology, AI and cybersecurity. Our schools must align with these opportunities.

I will launch a High-Demand Jobs Accelerator Program to expand training in high-growth sectors, guided by educators, employers and labor leaders.

And I will build a unified Birth-to-Career Data and Accountability System linking education, workforce and health outcomes across city agencies.

Education is the ladder of opportunity: the greatest equalizer and the foundation of our economy.

But ladders only work if they are sturdy, and too many of ours are broken.

What I’m proposing would provide a jolt to an entrenched bureaucracy resistant to change.

Fortunately, the state established powers for the mayor to step up and challenge the status quo through mayoral control.

The next generation deserves a mayor who will embrace leadership responsibilities and use these powers rather than duck from making tough choices.

Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani opposes mayoral control. That’s great for the bureaucracy, but not for students. 

There are 1 million reasons to fix this system: the 1 million children in New York’s public schools.

We owe every one of them better.

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is running for mayor of New York City.