Billionaire Donor to Mamdani Linked to Funding of Contested 'Woke Math' Program, Report Says
Heising‑Simons Foundation gave to Racial Justice in Early Mathematics project while Liz Simons donated $250,000 to a Mamdani‑aligned PAC, drawing criticism from opponents
A billionaire donor who recently gave $250,000 to a pro‑Zohran Mamdani political action committee also oversees a foundation that has funded a controversial math initiative critics describe as "woke math," according to a report.
The New York Post and Fox News reported that philanthropist and heiress Liz Simons donated $250,000 to New Yorkers for Lower Costs, a PAC supporting Democratic socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. The report said Simons co‑founded the Heising‑Simons Foundation with her husband, Mark Heising, and that the foundation has provided roughly $1.7 million since 2023 to the Racial Justice in Early Mathematics (RJEM) Project at Chicago’s Erikson Institute.
The RJEM project, described in coverage cited by Fox News, is part of a broader movement to incorporate social and racial justice themes into early math instruction. Critics quoted by the New York Post said the approach moves beyond traditional quantitative problems to embed social issues and, they contend, could be used to promote particular political views. "While a typical math problem challenges a child to answer a quantitative question, race‑neutral math incorporates social issues into questions and doesn't focus on numbers alone," the report said.
Supporters of curriculum reforms promoted by RJEM and similar initiatives argue that contextualized problems can make math more relevant and accessible to students from diverse backgrounds. The Fox News story noted that variants of the approach have been embraced in some jurisdictions, including parts of California, while others such as Florida have rejected or restricted such curricula amid broader debates over education content.
The donation to New Yorkers for Lower Costs drew attention because Mamdani styles himself as a Democratic socialist who has criticized concentrated wealth. The report framed the contribution as notable given those positions, but did not include a statement from Mamdani or from the Heising‑Simons Foundation addressing the school curriculum grants or the PAC donation.
The Heising‑Simons Foundation is a private philanthropic organization that has donated to a range of research and education projects; news reports said roughly $1.7 million of its giving since 2023 went to the RJEM initiative at the Erikson Institute. The Erikson Institute lists RJEM as a project focused on racial justice in early math education; specifics of programming and partner schools were not detailed in the Fox News account.
Critics who spoke to the New York Post characterized the teaching approach as politicizing basic math instruction. Supporters, including some educators who advocate for culturally responsive pedagogy, say integrating real‑world contexts can engage students and address achievement gaps. The debate over such curricular changes has become part of a larger national argument over how schools address race, equity and what topics belong in classroom instruction.
The coverage cited in the report did not include responses from Mamdani, the Heising‑Simons Foundation or the Erikson Institute. State and local decisions about math curriculum continue to vary, with some districts adopting materials that include social context and others moving to prohibit content officials deem ideological. The story adds to ongoing scrutiny of the role private philanthropy plays in shaping education initiatives and the political implications when donors to advocacy groups also support electoral campaigns.