By: The Editorial Board

In what can only be described as an astonishing lapse in judgment, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) has endorsed Zohran Mamdani for mayor of New York City—a candidate whose record of radicalism, anti-Israel agitation, and ideological extremism poses a clear and present threat to the values of educational equity, civic pluralism, and the safety and dignity of Jewish students and teachers.

It is difficult to overstate how recklessly this decision undermines the credibility of the UFT and betrays the trust of thousands of Jewish educators and families who have long supported the union’s mission. In its endorsement resolution, passed by a narrow margin of 63%, the UFT claimed it was backing Mamdani because of his “commitment to public education” and his support for co-governance—code for ending mayoral control and placing greater authority in the hands of ideologically sympathetic activists and union insiders. But behind this bureaucratic jargon is a dangerous truth: the union has prioritized political tribalism over the common good and chosen allegiance to the far-left fringe over meaningful representation for all teachers and students.

This is not simply about a candidate’s views on class size or pre-K funding. This is about values—about who we are as a city, and whom we choose to empower. Mamdani is not merely a progressive. He is a radical ideologue whose worldview has been shaped by associations with figures who see Israel not as a democratic ally, but as a villain to be dismantled.

As The New York Post has thoroughly documented, Mamdani co-founded a chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine at Bowdoin College—a group that invited a speaker who glorified Palestinian terror leader George Habash and justified the 9/11 attacks as “repercussions” of U.S. policy. Mamdani himself has refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and has repeatedly declined to condemn those who chant “Globalize the Intifada”—a slogan that many Jewish New Yorkers view as a call for violence against their people.

That the UFT would endorse such a candidate while purporting to represent a diverse body of educators—including over 10,000 Jewish teachers—is unconscionable.

Jewish teachers and students have already endured a year of escalated antisemitic incidents in public schools, from the graffiti of swastikas in bathroom stalls to classroom debates that vilify Israel without nuance or context. Jewish high schoolers have been told they are “white colonizers,” and Jewish educators have faced workplace hostility for expressing mainstream Zionist views.

Mamdani’s rise emboldens these trends. His campaign rhetoric reduces complex geopolitical conflicts to simplistic binaries—oppressor versus oppressed, colonizer versus colonized—and in doing so, flattens Jewish identity into something foreign, suspect, and shameful.

By supporting him, the UFT sends an unambiguous message to Jewish members: Your inclusion is conditional. Your concerns are secondary. Your pain is political collateral.

It is worth recalling why mayoral control of public schools was instituted in the first place. Before 2002, New York City’s schools were governed by a fractured and dysfunctional Board of Education, plagued by political infighting and inertia. The shift to mayoral control under Mayor Bloomberg was not a partisan maneuver—it was a reform long demanded by parents and education advocates desperate for transparency, coherence, and accountability.

Mamdani seeks to destroy that system. His vision of “co-governance” would hand influence back to ideological interest groups, ensuring that policy decisions are guided less by evidence and more by slogans. It would return the system to chaos—and place even more power in the hands of the UFT, which seems increasingly unwilling to see past its own political blinders.

The endorsement of Mamdani was not just a mistake. It was a betrayal of the very ideals the UFT claims to champion.

In a city that is home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel—over 1.3 million people—this endorsement cannot be interpreted as anything other than a rejection. And while UFT President Michael Mulgrew may insist the decision was based on Mamdani’s platform, the silence around his anti-Israel record speaks volumes.

As Moshe Spern, president of the United Jewish Teachers, told The New York Post, “Mulgrew was supported by many Jewish educators because of anti-Zionist candidates running against him. Now he’s chosen to support an anti-Zionist mayoral candidate.”

Spern is right. This was a calculated choice by the union to align itself with ideological purity over inclusivity—and to cast aside the Jewish community at a moment when antisemitism is rising across the nation’s schools.

It is a slap in the face to every Jewish educator who has poured their heart into teaching, who has stood in front of classrooms during times of conflict and tension, and who has had to justify their identity to students and colleagues alike.

Let’s be clear: Mamdani’s win in the Democratic primary does not give him a mandate to reinvent New York City’s school system into a laboratory for radical theory. Nor does it give the UFT license to sideline members whose views or identities do not conform to a rigid ideological mold.

The union exists to serve all teachers—not just the most vocal activists, and not just those who pass a progressive litmus test.

The general election is still ahead, and New Yorkers of conscience—parents, educators, and students—must ask themselves what kind of leadership they want for this city. Do we want a mayor whose platform sows division and fosters resentment? Do we want a school system governed by ideology rather than expertise? Do we want a union that puts political influence over moral integrity?

The answer must be no.

The UFT’s endorsement of Zohran Mamdani is not a mere misstep. It is a clarion call for every Jewish educator, every moderate parent, and every student who believes in fairness and accountability to speak up.

This city’s future is too important to be left to those who weaponize identity, excuse extremism, and mistake partisanship for principle.

We deserve better.