Get ready for more Zohran Mamdani-like candidates — avowed socialists — to soar to popularity across New York state and the rest of the U.S.

We the public have ceded control of education to the far left. The result is a curriculum that never mentions the brutal consequences of socialist experiments in Eastern Europe, Latin America and elsewhere, and instead brainwashes students with a fairytale definition of "socialism" devoid of any historical context.

Of course young New York voters are troubled by the unaffordability of the city. But that alone does not explain the appeal of Mamdani's socialist promise. Numerous polls show socialism is gaining traction among younger voters. They're being brainwashed in school.

Gallup reported Monday that 49% of people ages 18 to 34 had a positive view of socialism, compared with 30% of those over age 55.

Our only option is to fight politically to regain control of what's taught in our schools.

Here is text from a typical lesson plan recommended for New York state teachers, telling students: "In a capitalist society, the goal is for individuals to make profit by earning as much money as they can. In a socialist society, the government directs the wealth so it is more equally spread around to everyone, but there is still private ownership of property and businesses. In a communist society, everyone is equal and given the same amount of resources as determined by the government."

Students are encouraged to choose one of these economic systems — based on these misleading definitions — and defend their choice.

New Yorkers should be outraged. This lesson plan includes no discussion of how, in the name of socialism and equality, Cold War despots in Russia, Romania, Poland and other Eastern Bloc counties slaughtered innocents, seized property and sunk their countries into starvation-level poverty.

Students aren't told how socialism has plunged Venezuela into starvation since voters opted for socialist Hugo Chavez in December 1998. Chavez promised a fairer relationship among the socioeconomic classes. Sound familiar?

On the campaign trail, Mamdani is promising the same equality that kids are hearing about in the classroom.

"There must be a better distribution of wealth for all of God's children in this country," Mamdani tells CNN.

"There is enough money for a life of dignity for all people," he says on ABC.

No discussion of socialism's brutal past. It's not because socialism was implemented by bad actors. Socialism is inherently coercive because it violates our rights as individuals to work and acquire more property than the guy next door who doesn't work.

It is now politically incorrect to suggest young voters — many of them college graduates — buying Mamdani's socialist promises, such as rent freezes, are victims of an inadequate education. When I stated that on CNN Thursday evening, Congressman Ro Khanna demanded that I apologize because he falsely claimed I was calling Mamdani voters "stupid."

No, not "stupid," just lacking any knowledge of history.

History would help them evaluate Mamdani's housing proposals, where New Yorkers are especially stressed.

Mamdani said in 2020 that "people often ask what socialists mean when we say we want to 'decommodify' housing. Basically, we want to move away from a situation where most people acquire housing by purchasing it on the market & toward a situation where the state guarantees high-quality housing to all."

That's reminiscent of what the despots of Eastern Europe did during the Cold War, building huge concrete apartment blocks with meager square-foot allotments per family. Romanian despot Nicolae Ceausescu razed entire villages to herd the populace into his high-rise state-run facilities.

Of course, a New York mayor has far fewer powers. But Mamdani promises on his campaign website to build 200,000 new units of "permanently affordable, union-built, rent-stabilized homes."

Sounds wonderful, unless you're familiar with the failure of New York City Housing Authority housing, which ghettoizes the poor in unlivable circumstances. It takes on average 350 to 423 days to prepare a vacant NYCHA apartment for occupancy — a sign of the system's dysfunction. NYCHA residents suffer heat and hot water outages, mold and dilapidated conditions.

We have failed young voters by ceding control of their education to the teachers unions.

Union members and their relatives outgun parent groups to control local school board elections, and unions dominate statewide curriculum choices. That has to change fast, or the push for a phony vision of socialism — already dominant in the schools — will soon dominate at the ballot box as well. Mamdani is a red flag.

Betsy McCaughey is a former Lt. Governor of New York State and founder of SAVENYC @SAVENYC.org. Follow her on Twitter @Betsy_McCaughey. To find out more about Betsy McCaughey and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Anastasia Vishnevetskaya at Unsplash