Former NYC Chancellor Richard Carranza Makes It Official, Shacks Up With Former NYC DOE Senior Administrator

 

Raquel Sosa-Gonzalez and Former Chancellor Richard Carranza

When Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed Richard Carranza, who was, at the time, schools boss in Houston Texas, as NYC Chancellor after  Alberto Cavalho suddenly turned down the job did anyone think that the choice of Carranza was legitimate? 

I didn't think so.

Lawmakers, parents blast de Blasio for selecting schools chancellor pick accused of sexual discrimination

First, this is New York City. Grabbing someone from Houston Texas rather than NYC where there are thousands of worthy people was already suspicious. Second, the word out on Carranza was not good and never changed. Rumors of his separation and divorce were heard very soon after he started. 

Raquel Sosa, his girlfriend, was brought by Carranza from Houston to NYC as senior director of ELL (English Language Learner) students in December 2018 at a starting salary of $149,000. In October 2019 Sosa got a raise to $156,274 and a new title as "senior director for development, support and implementation in the Office of Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Learning", whatever that means. The NYC DOE is notorious for giving people titles that have no job descriptions or duties to match.

But hiring someone with whom you are in a relationship is frowned upon in NYC, but the NYC DOE does not seem to be very good at sifting out those who should not be on the payroll.

See here:

David A. Hay, NYC DOE Deputy Chief of Staff is Arrested

Richard Carranza accused of waiving rules to give pals high-paying jobs

Carranza did not care, and neither did Mayor de Blasio. As far as we know, Carranza was not reprimanded.

See this Post article published September 9, 2021

Carranza + Gal Pal's Tex 2-Step

The whole Carranza thing smelled fishy even after Carranza resigned suddenly in March 2021, mainly because a majority of NYC residents do not trust or like de Blasio anymore, calling him the worst Mayor ever. (worse than "Boss" Tweed?)

Now we have proof that something very wrong was going on, thanks to Sue Edelman and the NY POST, see below. 

Betsy Combier

betsy.combier@gmail.com
Editor, Advocatz.com
Editor, NYC Rubber Room Reporter
Editor, Parentadvocates.org
Editor, New York Court Corruption
Editor, National Public Voice
Editor, NYC Public Voice
Editor, Inside 3020-a Teacher Trials

Ex-chancellor Carranza shacking up with staffer he hired for six-figure job

by Susan Edelman, NY POST, September 4, 2021

Ex-NYC Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza has left his wife for an administrator he brought from Houston to New York for a six-figure Department of Education job.

Raquel Sosa, who quit the DOE just last week, and Carranza now list the same luxury high-rise condo in San Antonio, Texas, as their current address, records show.  

Their relationship appears to confirm a complaint that Carranza used his powerful position to favor pals, but one that city school investigators did not touch.

In December 2018, eight months after Carranza became NYC chancellor, his administration named Sosa, a Houston elementary school principal, “senior director of ELL (English Language Learner) newcomers and students in temporary housing” with a starting $149,000 salary. 

In October 2019, Sosa got a lofty new position — “senior director for development, support and implementation in the Office of Curriculum, Instruction and Professional Learning,” officials said. Her salary increased to $156,274 in 2020.

Sosa worked remotely until mid-July. Her last day was Aug. 31, said DOE spokeswoman Katie O’Hanlon. 

Carranza quit his $363,346-a-year chancellor’s job in March — with schools still in session amid the pandemic — after leading the nation’s largest school system for nearly three years. He explained he had to mourn loved ones lost to COVID-19, but promptly took a job with an ed-tech vendor with millions of dollars in DOE  contracts

Last week, Carranza and Sosa posted the same cheek-to-cheek Facebook profile photos

Carranza, 54, makes no secret of their romance. He has commented on various photos of Sosa, 47, making remarks such as “Absolutely gorgeous mi vida!!!!”

On Aug. 12, when Sosa posted a video of a Mariachi concert, Carranza wrote,  “Thank you for joining me, mi amor. Te amo.”  

Sosa met Carranza when he served as Houston’s school superintendent. Formerly Sosa-Gonzalez, she was already divorced when she moved to NYC. 

Richard Carranza and his wife, Monique, filed for divorce in Brooklyn Supreme Court in
August 2020. [photo:Matthew McDermott] 

Carranza was married. His wife, Monique, filed for divorce in Brooklyn Supreme Court in August 2020, and eventually moved back to California while he remained on the job in the city. They have two children. She did not return calls. The divorce is not final, according to court records.

The hiring of Sosa and two other friends from California, where Carranza was schools superintendent in San Francisco, generated a complaint in early 2019 to the Special Commissioner of Investigation for NYC schools, The Post revealed.

A whistleblower letter said DOE put them on the payroll in 2018 “at the direction of chancellor Carranza,” without advertising the openings, as usual, and without interviewing other candidates.

At the time, Carranza called the criticism a form of bias against him as “a man of color.”

The SCI said this week, “This case has been closed,” and  “no further information is available.” 

A spokeswoman refused to say whether SCI investigated the allegations, or why it closed the case. She insisted that Mayor de Blasio had no influence on its decisions.

Another woman named in the complaint to SCI, Martha Martin, was a San Francisco teacher who met Carranza when he was that city’s schools superintendent. Hired in October 2018, the DOE named her associate director for community and family empowerment in the Division of Multilingual Learners, with a $119,587 salary. Martin resigned in October 2019, the DOE said. A spokeswoman gave no reason.

Also named was Abram Jimenez, then vice-president of Illuminate Education Inc., a California ed-tech firm doing business with NYC schools. He was named “executive director of continuous school improvement,” a newly created title that now doesn’t exist. Jimenez quit that  $205,416-a-year job in July 2019 as The Post prepared to reveal he held stock in software vendor Illuminate Education, an apparent conflict of interest.

Carranza and Sosa did not respond to requests for comment.