The Mothers’ Agenda NY, also known as the MANY, is a left-of-center community activist and organizing group located in Brooklyn, New York that promotes left-of-center to far-left activism within the New York City school system. It has consistently opposed the policies or New York Mayors Michael Bloomberg (I, later D) and Bill de Blasio (D), calling their education policies “racist.” ^{1 2}

The organization is also a primary organizer of the Coalition to End Mayoral Control, a group that opposes the New York City Mayor’s control of the city school system that began in 2002 and has been extended since. The group also opposed a variety of school-discipline measures and standardized-testing practices, among other issues. The organization is fiscally sponsored by the Black Women’s Blueprint, a left-of-center to far-left organizing group that focuses on racial and gender issues. ^{3 4}

Background

The Mothers’ Agenda NY was founded in 2010 and is described as a collection of “school teachers, aunties, activists, and moms” from within the Black community in Brooklyn. The organization’s website states that it was founded in order to “speak our individual stories and diminish the distrust and divisiveness mayoral control had caused since its inception in 2002.” ⁵ The organization supports many left-of-center policies around education, discipline, criminal justice, and standardized testing. ⁶

The organization’s website criticized then-President Donald Trump by stating that “[t]he feelings of uncertainty and overwhelm in our nation— and where all caring residents stand in it— increase with each racist, sexist, xenophobic, bullying, lying and distorted tweet the POTUS writes.” ⁷

Mayoral Control

Much of the Mothers’ Agenda NY’s focus remains on advocating to end “Mayoral Control” a policy that was implemented in 2002 to give then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I, later D) the power to pick school chancellors and appoint the majority of members to the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP). The mayoral control policy has been consistently renewed to give former Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) and Mayor Eric Adams (D) similar powers, but was somewhat changed when it was renewed in 2022. ⁸

The Mothers’ Agenda NY is a primary organizer of the Coalition to End Mayoral Control, which also includes left-of-center and far-left groups the Independent Commission on Public Education (iCOPE), The Youth Researchers for A New Education System (YRNES), and S.E.E.D.S. Inc. (Seedswork: Service, Education, Economic Development & Science). The coalition’s website heavily criticizes the administrations of Bloomberg and de Blasio, calling Bloomberg a “racist” and an “oppressor” stating that “[w]hile many would rightly deem this mayor merely a racist, he was also an equal opportunity oppressor. Parents of all backgrounds, both privileged and not, were all treated with grave disrespect and lack of regard.” ⁹

Parent Organization

The Mothers’ Agenda NY is fiscally sponsored by Black Women’s Blueprint, a left-of-center advocacy group also based in Brooklyn that provides services and programs for Black women and girls and supports left-leaning racial and economic policies. The group was founded in Brooklyn, New York in response to the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination process. The organization uses left-leaning community organizing tactics to promote social and economic policies that are left-of-center and promotes causes including far-reaching changes to the criminal justice system. ^{10 11 12}

1. “For Parents.” Coalition to End Mayoral Control. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.nycmayoralcontrolnot.org/for-parents
2. “About Us.” The Mothers’ Agenda NY. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.wearethemany.org/about-us
3. “Join.” The Mothers’ Agenda NY. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.wearethemany.org/join
4. “About Us.” The Mothers’ Agenda NY. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.wearethemany.org/about-us
5. “About Us.” The Mothers’ Agenda NY. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.wearethemany.org/about-us
6. Lovett-Rivera, Benita. “Testimony to the NYS Senate & Assembly Education Committees Concerning Mayoral Control.” New York State Senate. Accessed May 23, 2023.  https://www.nysenate.gov/sites/default/files/the_mother_s_agenda_new_york_-_benita_rovet-rivera.pdf
7. “Projects.” The Mothers’ Agenda NY. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.wearethemany.org/projects
8. Amin, Reema. “As Eric Adams keeps control over NYC schools, he’s forced to lower class sizes.” Chalkbeat NY. June 3, 2022. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://ny.chalkbeat.org/2022/6/3/23153132/nyc-schools-eric-adams-mayoral-control-albany-lower-class-sizes
9. ^[1] “For Parents.” Coalition to End Mayoral Control. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.nycmayoralcontrolnot.org/for-parents
10. “ABOUT.” Black Women’s Blueprint. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.blackwomensblueprint.org/copy-of-about
11. “Join.” The Mothers’ Agenda NY. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://www.wearethemany.org/join
12. “Black Women’s Blueprint.” Philanthropy News Digest. February 21, 2017. Accessed May 23, 2023. https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/npo-spotlight/black-women-s-blueprint