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Mamdani’s education plan’s ‘lack of merit’ could fundamentally change student outcomes: GOP leader warns
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NEW YORK, N.Y. — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s education agenda might be the most concerning of his administration and would have a damaging impact, a local GOP leader told Fox News Digital, arguing that schools will be shifting away from merit-based achievement under Mamdani’s tenure.
Mamdani has proposed phasing out the city’s gifted and talented programs for younger students over inequity concerns, a move critics argue could limit academic opportunities for high performers from low-income families.
«That’s my biggest concern,» Forte told Fox News Digital. «The lack of merit and the lack of competitiveness…is going to lead to test scores declining and the quality of our education declining significantly.»
MAMDANI CONFRONTED ON ‘THE VIEW’ OVER APPOINTEE WHO CALLED HOMEOWNERSHIP ‘WEAPON OF WHITE SUPREMACY’
Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York, speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview at City Hall in New York on Jan. 29, 2026. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg)
Forte went on to caution that Mamdani and the people he appoints would «gut» the entire program.
«He’s going to gut the gifted and talented program. He said this already,» he said. «Who he’s put into the Department of Education here in New York, gonna gut the program.»
He said Mamdani would transform the system into one «based on race and racial quotas,» undermining academic fairness in schools.
«It’s not going to be about merit anymore,» he said. «It’s going be about what is somebody’s skin color? What is their race? They’re going to make this an equity-based system based on race and racial quotas, and a lottery system. That is no way to have education. That is no way to educate students.»
But he said this would backfire, with Mamdani’s plan ultimately harming students.
«What this is going to do is lower test scores across the board, it is going to lower expectations across the board, and students are going to suffer because of it.»
‘ZOHRANOMICS’: NYC MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI’S SOCIALIST MATH DOESN’T ADD UP
Turning to the new curriculum, he said teachers will eventually lead students to «hate their history.»
«We don’t know what he’s going to be implementing as curriculum,» he said. «We don’t know what he is going to do with American history. We don’t know what’s he’s gonna do with the history of New York.»
«Is that going to be standard operating procedure for all of New York schools? Is that what they’re going to be teaching? That they hate their history?» he added.
Shortly after taking office, Mamdani appointed Kamar Samuels, a longtime New York City educator and Manhattan superintendent, as the city’s next schools chancellor, which many critics took issue with given Samuels’ history of attempting to dismantle the gifted and talented program.
Teacher unions and their potentially increasing power under Mamdani are another issue Forte raised, saying they «will play a more active role.»
«The teachers’ union is the most, I don’t even want to call them progressive. They’re more than that,» he said. «The most socialist, militantly woke organization in the country. That doesn’t make sense. That’s not good.»
He said American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten is going to be «a very powerful figure in Mamdani’s New York.»
«That is going to be what is educating the next generation of Americans and they’re not keeping their politics out of the classroom,» he added.
Forte also targeted teacher training programs. He said they are shaping how future educators will think and teach.
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Zohran Mamdani announces new members of his team at the Brooklyn Public Library Greenpoint Branch in Brooklyn, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (Shawn Inglima/ New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
«We have to do something about the teacher colleges where they are teaching the next generation of educators how to be Marxist, how to be liberals…and how to indoctrinate the next generation of students.»
Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s office and the American Federation of Teachers for comment.
Mamdani found himself in hot water on education last week when he announced that his first veto as mayor was to derail a bipartisan bill aimed at combating antisemitism by expanding protest security safeguards for places of education.
curriculum, dept of education, zohran mamdani, controversies education, teachers, campus radicals
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Falsedades, rumores y conjeturas en internet para ganar seguidores, tras el tiroteo en Washington
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‘Hell Week’ in Washington: A look at House Republicans’ current bind, and how we got here
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There’s no such thing as hazing in Congress.
You won’t find «fraternity row,» with each house festooned with a trifecta of deltas, gammas and epsilons.
No drinking games here.
At least not officially.
WHCD SHOOTING SHOWS DEMS ARE ‘PLAYING’ WITH AMERICANS’ SAFETY BY WITHHOLDING DHS FUNDING, GOP LAWMAKER SAYS
Capitol Hill and Greek pledges share one common denominator at the moment: the impending doom of a forthcoming «hell week.» (Aaron Schwartz/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
But get ready for something on Capitol Hill with which many Greek pledges are all too familiar:
«I’m going to say next week is hell week,» warned Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, last Thursday. «Next week is going to be hell week.’
And this was all before the harrowing episode Saturday night at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington.
HOUSE GOP PUSHES BACK ON SENATE’S ‘SKINNY’ PLAN TO END RECORD-BREAKING DHS SHUTDOWN
To wit about the week facing Capitol Hill:
House Republicans face a devil of a week. They must get on the same page as the Senate to pass a budget framework – to prospectively fund ICE and the Border Patrol. FISA, the nation’s controversial spy program expires early Friday morning. That’s to say nothing of trying to pass the farm bill.
If they don’t get all of this done, «Dean Wormer» (of Animal House fame) might just place House Republicans on «double secret probation» before the week is through.
So let’s examine what got House Republicans in this bind.
Let’s start at 3:36 a.m. last Thursday.
We begin there, because in the past several weeks, the most important moments in Congress have unfolded at 2:12 on a Friday morning, 2:16 on a Friday morning and now 3:36 on a Thursday morning.
3:36 a.m. is when the Senate approved a budget framework to possibly fund ICE and CBP. Republicans are running a special legislative gambit called «reconciliation» to bypass a filibuster. That’s because Democrats won’t help. They’ve never secured the reforms they need to support ICE. So Republicans are going it alone.
«We’re trying to use the reconciliation process to get money to secure the border,» said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Democrats have been cold on ICE funding ever since the wintertime killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Democrats have balked about funding ICE since the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis over the winter.
«They want to give $140 billion for ICE and Border Patrol without any reforms,» said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. «(They’re) adding $140 billion to an agency that nobody – well, two groups, Border Patrol and ICE – that nobody respects in this country.»
That prompted an explosive response from Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin during an appearance on Fox.
«It makes my ears red. It takes a lot to get me upset. But Chuck Schumer, no one respects you. The definition of a lying scumbag politician. That is you,» said Mullin of his former Senate colleague.
ICE SHUTDOWN FIGHT MIGHT RESTRICT FEMA, COAST GUARD TO ‘LIFE-THREATENING’ EMERGENCIES
Perhaps this why the white-hot rhetoric on both sides may have contributed to the mayhem of Saturday night.
Mullin says emergency DHS money is about to expire. So pressure is intensifying on the House to align with the Senate with no changes to the outline adopted by the Senate.
«It has to be clean, because it’s got to be quick,» said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. «The last paychecks go out at the end of this month.»
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., says the Senate funding package contains «problematic language.» (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
But remember, this is just the House lining up with the Senate on a blueprint to address the funding lapse at ICE and CBP. The assassination attempt at the White House dinner only amplified the need to fund DHS. And fast. However, Johnson refused to pick up a bill to fund everything else at DHS which the Senate passed twice. Then Johnson agreed to pass the bill after dissing it. But the House has never synced up.
Johnson says the Senate funding package – not the reconciliation framework – «has some problematic language» because it was «haphazardly drafted.»
And now Johnson is suggesting there may be yet another DHS funding bill in the works.
That may be inevitable, considering the chaos of the weekend.
REPUBLICANS EYE ENDING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWNS FOREVER OVER FEARS DEMS WILL DO IT AGAIN
Budget reconciliation takes a while.
«Reconciliation is still a little ways off,» said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. «They’re running out of runway to fund a lot of those agencies.»
But here’s the other problem with reconciliation: Many conservatives insist on add-ons.
«We should be taking a broader approach to reconciliation,» said Rep. Chip Roy R-Texas.
Here’s what they’re mulling: Maybe money to cover the cost of the war in Iran. Perhaps a suspension of the federal gasoline tax. Additional tax cuts. You name it.
Many on the right demand the inclusion of the SAVE America Act. The bill requires proof of citizenship in order to vote.
«I think you’d see a lot more folks on our side jump on board with it if they had that,» said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., about the SAVE America Act.
Many on the right demand the inclusion of the SAVE America Act in a reconciliation bill. Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., argued, «you’d see a lot more folks on our side jump on board with it if they had that.» (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
However, even advocates of the SAVE America Act doubt the GOP can stuff that into a Senate bill which must be fiscal in nature. Many demand an additional, expansive reconciliation bill which is not limited to DHS.
«This is probably the only reconciliation we’re going to have before the break. That’s a poor excuse for the work we’re doing up here,» complained Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C. «One bill with that limited amount.»
«People probably intend to do a third reconciliation bill. But you’re not looking at Bambi’s baby brother here,» said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. «This is the last train leaving the station.»
All aboard?
SENATE TAKES FIRST STEP TO FUND ICE, BORDER PATROL IN BID TO CUT DEMS OUT OF THE FUNDING PROCESS
For the moment, President Trump is still focused on the reconciliation outline.
«We need all Republicans to join together and support this Budget Blueprint, which will allow us to bypass Democrat obstruction in the Senate, and fund Immigration Enforcement with only Republican Votes. The Senate passed this Blueprint last week on Thursday morning, and now, House Republicans must UNIFY, and pass the same Blueprint to get the Bill done,» wrote the President on Truth Social.
The President added that he wants a «FAST and FOCUSED» bill by June 1.
That’s nearly five weeks from now.
Hence the challenge of the week.
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«This is so difficult. Up here, we can’t agree with much,» fumed Nehls.
But here’s a little secret. Every week on Capitol Hill in recent memory has morphed into a political inferno. A failed exercise to fund the government which lingered since last summer. Fights over the Epstein files. Resignations amid dark political scandals. Efforts to expel other lawmakers. You name it.
«If you’re going through hell, keep going,» said Winston Churchill.
Which is maybe why Congress goes through the same hellish, legislative landscape nearly every week.
congress, house of representatives politics, republicans
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Crisis en Cuba: el turismo se desplomó un 48% en el primer trimestre del año y golpeó una de las principales fuentes de divisas del país
La llegada de turistas a Cuba se derrumbó en el primer trimestre del año y profundizó la crisis de uno de los sectores más importantes para la economía de la isla, tras la escasez de combustible y la suspensión de vuelos internacionales.
Entre enero y marzo, Cuba recibió 298.057 visitantes extranjeros, una cifra que representó una caída del 48% frente al mismo período de 2025, según datos difundidos por la Oficina Nacional de Estadística e Información (ONEI).
El descenso se acentuó en marzo, cuando arribaron al país 35.561 turistas, uno de los registros más bajos de los últimos años, de acuerdo con las cifras oficiales.
El retroceso golpeó a una actividad clave para la generación de divisas en la isla. El turismo constituye la segunda fuente de ingresos en moneda extranjera y, hasta enero, ocupaba a más de 300.000 personas en una población total de 9,6 millones de habitantes.
La caída alcanzó a los principales mercados emisores de visitantes.
Canadá, históricamente el principal origen del turismo hacia Cuba, registró 124.794 visitantes en el trimestre, lo que marcó una baja del 54,2% en comparación con el mismo lapso del año anterior.
También se redujeron con fuerza las llegadas desde Rusia, con una caída del 37,5%, y desde la comunidad cubana residente en el exterior —en su mayoría radicada en Estados Unidos—, que descendieron 42,8%.
El deterioro del sector no respondió únicamente a la coyuntura de este año, sino que se inscribió en una tendencia de largo plazo.
Entre 2019 y 2025, los ingresos por turismo en Cuba se redujeron cerca de un 70%, según cálculos elaborados a partir de cifras oficiales. Ese período incluyó el impulso inicial derivado del deshielo diplomático con Estados Unidos, seguido por el impacto de la pandemia de covid-19 y el posterior endurecimiento de las sanciones estadounidenses.
Antes incluso del bloqueo energético impuesto por Washington en enero de este año, la actividad turística ya mostraba señales de debilitamiento. Según los datos disponibles, el sector acumulaba entonces una baja del 17,8%, con retrocesos en todos los mercados históricos.
Durante 2025, las llegadas desde Canadá disminuyeron 12,4%, mientras que las de los cubanos residentes en el exterior retrocedieron 22,6%. En el caso de Rusia, la caída alcanzó el 29%, y en el de Alemania llegó al 50,5%.
La situación se agravó tras el anuncio oficial realizado en febrero sobre la escasez de combustible destinado a la aviación. Luego de esa comunicación, aerolíneas de Canadá, Rusia y Europa informaron la suspensión temporal de sus vuelos a la isla, aunque no precisaron una fecha para la reanudación de las operaciones.
La interrupción de conexiones aéreas internacionales incidió de forma directa en la reducción del flujo de visitantes durante marzo, cuando el volumen de arribos quedó en uno de los niveles más bajos registrados en años recientes.
A diferencia de otros destinos del Caribe, Cuba no logró recuperar la dinámica turística previa a la pandemia. Mientras otras economías de la región recompusieron parte de su flujo internacional de viajeros, la isla continuó con cifras deprimidas, afectada además por el incremento de la presión estadounidense durante el primer mandato de Donald Trump entre 2017 y 2021.
El impacto de la escasez energética tampoco se limitó al turismo.
El bloqueo sobre el suministro de combustible afectó además otros sectores generadores de divisas para la economía cubana, entre ellos la exportación de servicios médicos, la producción de níquel y la industria del tabaco, tres áreas relevantes para el ingreso de moneda extranjera.
(Con información de AFP)
Business,International Relations,Corporate Events,Diplomacy / Foreign Policy,South America / Central America
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