On December 31st 2025, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced that Chancellor Aviles-Ramos would be replaced by Chancellor Kamar Samuels starting January 1st 2026. 

Aviles-Ramos began her term as the NYCPS chancellor on October 16th 2024 after David Banks retired prior to the conclusion of his term. During her term, Aviles-Ramos managed to increase proficiency in ELA and math.

However, her term ended December 31, 2025 as Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Kamar Samuels would now be taking over the role of Chancellor effective January 1, 2026. 

Who is Kamar Samuels and what are his goals?

What we know:

Kamar Samuels was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Master of Science in Educational Leadership from Baruch College and a Master of Science in Childhood Education from Lehman College. He also holds certifications of School Building Leader and School District Leader.

Before entering the NYCPS system, Kamar Samuels worked in finance and as a finance manager at the NBA.

Chancellor Kamar Samuels has experience of more than two decades in public education. He began as an elementary school teacher in the Bronx at PS 41 and PS/MS 194 and continued on to serve as the principal for Bronx Writing Academy. Later served as a deputy superintendent in Brooklyn and superintendent in both Manhattan and Brooklyn.

As the new Chancellor, Kamar Samuels has different priorities he wants to focus on. One of his priorities is to make school successful and engaging for all; he thinks that as a city we should embrace our diversity and learn about different cultures with understanding and respect. “I believe schools should be safe, rigorous, and truly integrated. If schools are not truly integrated, then throughout our system, we won’t really enjoy the greatness that New York City has,” Samuels said in an interview with CBS.

Along with making schools successful and engaging, he is also pushing to provide high-quality schools to every neighborhood. He wants to close the gap between the difference of reading and math scores between neighborhoods. He mentions in an article on Chalkbeat that there will be a few shifts and changes however did not elaborate on what changes he will be implementing.

What the Edison Community Wants to See:

Even with the goals our new chancellor has set, we asked the Edison community what they would like to see from the new chancellor.

“I hope he supports the public school systems in hiring more teachers because having more staff would take some of the workload off the already present teachers and benefit the students and focuses more on learning retention and application rather than standardized testing and remains communicative with the public,” said Kashfia Naiym, a junior.

Along with the lack of teachers in schools that hampers students’ education, the OMNY card’s quality has also affected students. The paper-like card is seen to get damaged easily and malfunction when students try to use them. Such inconveniences delay students’ commute. 

“I understand that Kamar A. Samuels plays a role in influencing annual school funding decisions and was appointed by Zohran Mamdani. I hope he can also advocate for improvements to the quality of OMNY cards, which are currently made from a paper-like material that is easily damaged and prone to being lost,” said Fatima Ali, a junior.

TAEHS’s counselor of Interactive Game Design, Alyssa Siano said, “My hope is that the new chancellor can bring some positivity into the school communities across the boroughs and school safety. I would like to see schools implement a change across the boroughs that protects students and staff on a daily basis. I think we need more protection inside the school buildings.”

“Look into the communities that the schools are in. And make decisions based on our, on the individual needs of the schools and the districts and the communities and not necessarily like overall New York City, because all New York City is not the same. The five boroughs are not the same. And all the communities within a borough are not the same. So your schools are not the same. We all have different needs,” says TAEHS’s parent teacher coordinator, Mariela Chevry, “I feel like literacy is something that we are always talking about, but not always getting done and you can’t read, if you can’t read, you can’t count. And if you can’t count, you can’t, like, it’s just like the whole thing just is a continuous circle. So I would say that literacy is important. Literacy is important. That would definitely be like the major target that everyone can read across all ages.” 

As he embarks this new journey as the new Chancellor Samuels he promises to focus on making the school environment safer and more inclusive. “Our students — from early childhood through graduation — deserve schools that are safe, academically rigorous and truly integrated.”