The city education department’s top official in charge of early childhood education is leaving her job following years of criticism over the management of pre-K and 3-K and the Adams administration's yet-unfulfilled pledge that every parent who wanted a seat in the popular programs would receive one.
“It is with a heart full of emotions that I am announcing my transition,” she wrote. “The work we have accomplished together, all in service to children and in partnership with their families, has created the necessary foundation to stabilize, strengthen, and sustain our early childhood education system. The children, their families, and the educators across this grand portfolio deserve no less.”
In fall 2022, the United Federation of Teachers union voted “no confidence” in Ahmed’s leadership, though Schools Chancellor David Banks praised her efforts. Banks blamed the dysfunction on former Mayor Bill de Blasio and said de Blasio had expanded early childhood education efforts with federal funds that were drying up.