Kamar Samuels

Samuels entered the school system through the NYC Teaching Fellows program and began his education career as an elementary school teacher in the Bronx, including at P.S. 41 (Gun Hill Road School) and P.S./M.S. 194.^[5] He began teaching at P.S./M.S. 194 in 2001 as a sixth-grade math teacher.^[9][8]

He later served as principal of the Bronx Writing Academy (MS 323) and held leadership roles in NYC Public Schools central offices, including Executive Director of District School Design and Senior Director of Partnerships and Initiatives.^[5] He became superintendent of Brooklyn's District 13 in 2019 and was named superintendent of Manhattan's District 3 in 2022.^[10][5]

Samuels' district leadership has involved school mergers and integration initiatives, including efforts related to admissions policies and gifted programming.^[4][11]

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announced Samuels as schools chancellor on December 31, 2025; Samuels began serving on January 1, 2026.^[1][2][3] Concurrently, Mamdani reversed a campaign position and said he would ask the state legislature to continue mayoral control of city schools while pursuing changes intended to increase community involvement.^[1][12]

In his early communications as chancellor, Samuels emphasized school integration, culturally responsive education, and community engagement as priorities.^[9] He also told principals he planned to continue the city's literacy curriculum mandate, NYC Reads, while signaling possible changes to the prior administration's math initiative.^[13]