Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is expected to announce Wednesday that he will appoint Kamar Samuels, a longtime New York City educator and Manhattan superintendent, as the next schools chancellor, according to multiple reports.

Samuels, who has been an educator with New York City public schools for almost two decades, is known for promoting racial diversity through school mergers and for working to dismantle the Gifted & Talented program, which some critics argue is racially biased, the New York Post reported.

The schools chancellor oversees the nation’s largest public school system, educating more than 900,000 students across roughly 1,600 schools and employing roughly 135,000 people.

Samuels led school mergers aimed at racial integration while overseeing a de Blasio administration effort to increase diversity in certain Brooklyn middle schools, according to Chalkbeat.

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According to the Post, Samuels has also backed the International Baccalaureate program, which he said aligns with his philosophy of expanding opportunities for students while investing in teachers.

Samuels’ appointment would align with Mamdani’s campaign pledge to reshape education policy under his administration.

In October, Mamdani told The New York Times he would renew a plan first proposed by former Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2021, which sought to eliminate the Gifted & Talented test for public school kindergartners, opting for a universal test in second grade.

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Mayor Eric Adams halted de Blasio's initiative when he took office, according to the Post.

Mamdani's pick for schools chancellor was first reported by City & State.

Samuels began his career as an elementary school teacher in the Bronx before moving into school leadership as a middle school principal in the borough. He later served as deputy superintendent in Brooklyn’s Community School District 23, then as superintendent of Community School District 13, before taking over as superintendent of Manhattan’s District 3.

"It's a politically challenging assignment to run District 3, really, and he ran it at a very challenging time," said Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine told City & State. "He consistently just showed incredible sensitivity and nuance and stuck to his principles."

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Samuels would succeed outgoing Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos, who reportedly sought to remain in the role, the publication added.

Mamdani will be sworn in as New York City’s next mayor on Thursday, Jan. 1.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Mamdani’s team for comment.

Fox News Digital's Deirdre Heavey contributed to this report.

Former U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado died on Tuesday at the age of 92, according to his family.

Campbell died of natural causes surrounded by his family, his daughter Shanan Campbell, announced. He is survived by his wife Linda, their two children, Shanan and Colin, as well as four grandchildren.

Originally a Democrat, Campbell switched to the Republican Party in 1995 while serving in the U.S. Senate, a seat he held from 1993 until his retirement in 2005 due to health reasons.

Before serving in the Senate, he held office in the U.S. House and the Colorado House.

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The first Native American to serve in both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, Campbell was known for his passionate advocacy of Native American issues as well as his dress attire, which included cowboy boots, bolo ties and a ponytail.

He was a member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe and said his ancestors were among more than 150 Native Americans, mostly women, children and elderly men, killed by U.S. soldiers while camped under a flag of truce on Nov. 29, 1864. He helped sponsor legislation to upgrade the Great Sand Dunes National Monument in southern Colorado, where the killings happened, to a national park.

Campbell was also a strong supporter of children's rights, organized labor and fiscal conservatism.

A renowned master jeweler, Campbell has designs displayed at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Indian.

"He was a master jeweler with a reputation far beyond the boundaries of Colorado. I will not forget his acts of kindness. He will be sorely missed," Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, said on X.

Colorado Democrat Gov. Jared Polis ordered flags to be lowered to half staff from sunrise to sunset on the day of Campbell's service.

"He will be missed here in Colorado and across the country, and his contributions leave a lasting legacy to our state and nation," Polis said on X.

Born April 13, 1933, in Auburn, California, Campbell also served in the Air Force during the Korean War.

He received a bachelor’s degree from San Jose State University in 1957. He also attended Meiji University in Tokyo from 1960 to 1964, was captain of the U.S. judo team at the 1964 Olympics and won a gold medal in the Pan American Games.

Additionally, he worked as a deputy sheriff in Sacramento County, California, coached the U.S. national judo team, operated his own dojo in Sacramento and taught high school classes.

Campbell was also a motorcycle-rider and cattle rancher, and he was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

The former lawmaker has driven the Capitol Christmas Tree across the country to Washington, D.C., on several occasions.

"He was truly one of a kind, and I am thinking of his family in the wake of his loss," Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette, a Democrat, said on X.

Campbell founded Ben Nighthorse Consultants, a lobbying firm that focused on federal policy, including Native American affairs and natural resources, following his retirement from public office. He also continued to design and craft American Indian jewelry after leaving Congress.

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Although he switched to the Republican Party in March 1995 after becoming angry with Democrats for killing a balanced-budget amendment in the Senate, Campbell said his principles never changed.

"It didn’t change me. I didn’t change my voting record. For instance, I had a sterling voting record as a Democrat on labor. I still do as a Republican. And on minorities and women’s issues," he once said.

A social liberal and fiscal conservative, Campbell's party switch outraged Democrat leaders.

"I get hammered from the extremes," he said shortly after the switch. "I’m always willing to listen ... but I just don’t think you can be all things to all people, no matter which party you’re in."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.