For many years, parent activists have promoted the idea that the Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education ("DOE") should not be appointed by the Mayor, but elected in a General election. Too much money is at stake.
No one in City government has started doing anything about this. Why? Because the culture of "take what isn't yours if its' public money" is too entrenched in the City government. Chancellor Kamar Samuels makes $363,000.00 plus car, driver, and other benefits each year he is in office. Our Mayor makes $258.750 per year.
The NYC Department of Education proposed Fiscal 2027 expense budget is $38.04 billion. This represents roughly 29.4% of the city’s total preliminary budget, with $12.9 billion specifically dedicated to contracts for pupil transportation, special education, and charter schools.
See NYC Department of Education Budget.
This is horrifying.
Why? Because never have the students' standards fallen to such lows. NYC children are not learning. Yet salaries are rising. And there is no accountability.
In my work as a workplace investigator and legal representative, I have fought for employees in 3020-a hearings, arbitration, State and Federal Courts, and PERB, and I see personal dislikes and political animosity the basis for charging someone who is completely innocent. More than 90% of discontinuances and terminations occur due to religious/gender/race discrimination or simple dislike without any valid wrongdoing.
The post below is about the credentials and past and present actions of the Chancellor of the New York City DOE, Kamar Samuels. He should be independently investigated and, if found guilty of selling his position for person gain, ousted.
Just sayin'
betsy@advocatz.com
Editor, ADVOCATZ.com
Editor, Parentadvocates.org
Editor, New York Court Corruption
Editor, National Public Voice
Editor, NYC Public Voice
Editor, Inside 3020-a Teacher Trials
NYC Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels a ‘dead man walking’ after being grilled over no-bid contracts
Sharks in City Hall are circling around NYC Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels, insiders told The Post this week, as the first elected official has publicly called for his head.
Samuels had a disastrous week after he was grilled at a City Council budget hearing Monday over The Post’s bombshell exclusive that he inked a $180,000 no-bid contract with a non-Department of Education-approved vendor Sean Kreyling in 2023, while he was superintendent of the Upper West Side’s District 3.
He also split payments between Kreyling’s two companies so they wouldn’t exceed a $25,000 threshold that would have triggered city financial oversight, emails obtained by The Post show.
“Chancellor Kamar Samuels has lost the confidence of public school parents, educators, and school administrators. He should step down,” New York City Councilman Phil Wong (D-Queens) told The Post.
A City Hall insider told The Post the DOE is already expecting Samuels to get the axe, and the agency is bracing itself for the loss of its fourth chancellor in five years.
“He’s a dead man walking,” the source said.
“People don’t really like him anyway — people believe he is in way over his head,” a well-placed DOE source told The Post.
Before DOE General Counsel Liz Vladeck shut down further questions, Samuels testified Monday that he regrets “the lapses in policy and procedures that took place while I was the superintendent, and the actions in question were all meant to [be] in the pursuit of educational opportunity.”
Samuels’ week only got worse after Kreyling was suddenly called in to testify at a hearing Wednesday, and pointed the finger squarely at Samuels and also accused the SCI — the independent DOE investigative body — of engaging in a rigged investigation to cover for him.
“It had a narrative that it wanted to carry out from start to finish, protecting certain individuals, and ultimately it allowed me and my organization to be the scapegoats for the very poor decisions of Kamar Samuels,” he testified at the hearing.
The June 2025 SCI report pinned the blame on Kreyling and Samuels’ former Deputy Superintendent, Mariela Graham — who signed a near-identical contract with Kreyling in 2024 — and made no mention of Samuels’ role in the scheme.
City Councilman Frank Morano (R–Staten Island) demanded accountability after Kreyling’s testimony.
“What troubles me isn’t just the allegation itself. It’s the possibility that there may be one set of rules for rank-and-file employees and another set of rules for senior leadership,” Morano said.
The DOE and Samuels did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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