Jamaica-born, New York-based veteran educator Kamar Samuels has been appointed Chancellor of New York City Public Schools by Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, placing him at the head of the largest public school system in the United States.
Samuels, who currently serves as a Manhattan superintendent, will assume responsibility for a system that educates more than one million students and operates with a budget exceeding US$40 billion. His appointment marks a major milestone both for New York City’s education sector and for the Jamaican and wider Caribbean diaspora.
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With more than two decades of experience in New York City’s public education system, Samuels has worked across every level of school governance. His career spans classroom teaching, school leadership and district administration, with a consistent focus on improving outcomes for students in urban communities through data-informed decision-making and strategic management.
Samuels was educated at Jamaica College in St Andrew before migrating to the United States. He earned an undergraduate degree in accounting from Baruch College, part of the City University of New York, and later completed a Master of Science in Education in childhood education at Lehman College, also within the CUNY system.
Before fully committing to public education, Samuels worked as a finance manager with the National Basketball Association. That experience, he has said in past interviews, strengthened his understanding of large-scale operations, budgeting and organisational leadership, skills that would later prove valuable in school administration.
He entered the education system through the New York City Teaching Fellows programme, spending five years as an elementary school teacher. He later transitioned into operational roles, serving as a business manager and data specialist at the Gun Hill Road School before becoming principal of the Bronx Writing Academy through the New Leaders for New Schools residency programme.
Beyond his professional achievements in the United States, Samuels has maintained close ties to Jamaica through diaspora engagement. He previously served as education chair and later president of Jamaica Impact, a diaspora-led organisation that supports basic schools and education initiatives across the island.
His selection as chancellor has been widely welcomed within Jamaican and Caribbean diaspora communities as a significant accomplishment for Jamaica-born leadership in global public education. Observers have also noted that his background in both finance and education positions him well to navigate the complex academic, administrative and fiscal challenges facing New York City’s public schools in the years ahead.
