The intended appointment of Camille Samuel by elected Mayor Eric Adams as the Chancellor of New York City schools.
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New York Mayor-elect Eric Adams Plans to Appoint Kaimér Samuels as New York City Schools Chancellor
New York: Mayor-elect Eric Adams intends to appoint Kaimér Samuels, the Manhattan superintendent, as the head of New York City’s public school system. This was disclosed by a member of the transition committee who had been briefed by administration officials.
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As superintendent of Manhattan’s District 3, Samuels has overseen schools serving diverse communities across the Upper West Side, Morningside Heights, and parts of Harlem. He has led school integration efforts and played a key role in a previous attempt to limit selective gifted programs—initiatives that Adams has pledged to revive.
Samuels brings experience in school mergers, a process that is often complex and controversial. This background could prove valuable for a city facing a growing number of small campuses. However, the primary aim of these mergers has been to address segregation in one of the most segregated school systems in the country.
Before his tenure in District 3, Samuels served as superintendent of Brooklyn’s District 13. There, he oversaw the relocation of the Arts and Letters School from Clinton Hill to Bedford-Stuyvesant. He also led the elimination of gifted and talented programs in the district and laid the groundwork for implementing International Baccalaureate programs district-wide, with the goal of creating a more inclusive, school-wide academic approach.
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Samuels began his career nearly two decades ago as a teacher in the Bronx. He later became principal of the Bronx Writing Academy, where he diversified teachers’ work schedules, adjusted class times, and incorporated online learning.
As head of New York City’s schools, he will face numerous challenges. With public school enrollment declining, the administration will have to make difficult decisions about school closures or consolidations. Post-pandemic absenteeism remains high. State class-size mandates will require hiring thousands of new teachers. Although there have been modest gains in math and reading scores, overall system performance is widely viewed as middling, with large disparities based on race and socioeconomic status.
Perhaps the most difficult task for the incoming chancellor will be fulfilling one of Adams’s key promises: ending mayoral control of the nation’s largest school system and giving families and teachers greater authority. Adams has not yet clarified how he would relinquish some of his power over the school system, but such steps could reduce the chancellor’s authority.
Some education observers have praised Adams’s decision to select Samuels. Journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones called it “great news for those who care about school integration and equity,” adding that, amid a rollback of civil rights enforcement at the U.S. Department of Education, Adams’s choice sends a powerful message.
Others who have worked directly with Samuels said he is known for engaging with complex discussions about inequality within the system and for incorporating input from parents and the community.
CEO David Adams said Samuels is “smart and respected,” and that the decision reflects “a mayor who is looking for a chancellor who knows how to work within the system.”
The intended appointment of Camille Samuel by elected Mayor Eric Adams as the Chancellor of New York City schools.
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