Federal Policy

NYC Mayor Mamdani Names 13 Members to Panel for Education Policy

Mayoral appointments to a board overseeing one of the nation's largest school systems draw scrutiny over appointees' prior public statements and institutional affiliations.

The Congressional Times · August 8, 2026

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has named 13 individuals to the Panel for Education Policy (PEP), the city body that votes on contracts, budgets, and policy directives for the New York City Department of Education, which serves approximately 900,000 students and operates an annual budget exceeding $37 billion, according to the NYC Office of Management and Budget's FY2026 adopted budget document. Among those named is Lucas Koehler, identified in public records as the head of the endowment for the Foundation for City College, which manages approximately $500 million in assets according to the foundation's most recent publicly available IRS Form 990. Koehler previously served as an official at the NYC Department of Education. His prior statements calling for institutions to 'dismantle white dominant culture' were made in a professional capacity and are part of the public record of his tenure at the DOE, according to reporting by the New York Post dated August 8, 2026. The Panel for Education Policy includes mayoral appointees as well as representatives selected by each borough president, per New York City Administrative Code Section 2590-b. Mayoral appointees serve at the pleasure of the mayor and do not require City Council confirmation, meaning Mamdani's selections carry the full weight of his executive authority without a separate legislative vote. The full list of all 13 mayoral appointees, their professional backgrounds, and any prior public statements have not yet been compiled in a single public disclosure by the mayor's office as of August 8, 2026. A complete roster of appointees, their compensation if any, and any formal recusal policies governing PEP votes would be available through the NYC Mayor's Office of Appointments and the PEP's own public meeting records filed with the City Clerk.

We Follow the Data, Not the Narrative

The Congressional Times exists because public records are public — and the analysis built from them should not be exclusive to those who can afford $60,000-a-year intelligence subscriptions.

Every story published in The Congressional Times is sourced to a verifiable public record: a court filing, a Senate lobbying disclosure, an FEC contribution record, a USASpending contract, or a verified news report. We state our sources inline. We show our math. When we are wrong, we say so publicly.

We do not editorialize in news coverage. We do not use loaded language. Both political parties are held to identical standards.

The Follow the Money investigations are the heart of this publication. Each begins with Gab-E Political Intelligence running against 10+ million government records before a single word of editorial is written.

How We Source, Verify, and Correct Our Work

Every factual claim in a Congressional Times story is checked against a primary source: a government filing, a court record, a direct quote, before publication. When a claim can't be verified or doesn't hold up as originally reported, we drop it or reframe it. We do not publish disputed claims as settled fact.

When we get it wrong: we correct the story directly, note the correction and date at the bottom of the piece, and update the record. We do not quietly edit and move on.

Bylines: stories with a named byline are written and fact-checked by that person. Stories without a byline are sourced from Gab-E Political Intelligence, our automated research platform, and are labeled as such.

Ownership: The Congressional Times is published by Gab-E Holdings LLC. Gab-E, our intelligence platform, powers our sourcing and research pipeline.

Corrections or concerns: support@gab-e.com