Richard Carranza Slams Allegations of Cronyism as Racist

Confronted with allegations that he hired out of state cronies for lucrative Department of Education posts, flouting the competitive hiring process, Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza on Monday played the race card — and claimed he was being targeted for criticism because he is a “man of color.”

As The Post reported Sunday, the Special Commissioner of Investigation is probing a complaint that Carranza hired two former out-of-state colleagues for the posts with the help of waivers.

Whistleblowers also questioned his creation of a new position — “senior executive director of continuous improvement” — for associate Abram Jimenez at a salary of $205,416.

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“There are forces in this city that want me to be quiet,” he said when asked about the complaint at a press conference on school integration. “There are forces in this city that want me to be the good minority and be quiet and don’t say a word. Don’t bring the race issue up.”

Carranza groused that his hires are only being subjected to scrutiny because of their ethnicity — all three hires, from California and Texas, are Hispanic — and that prior Big Apple schools chancellors have not been subjected to similar oversight.

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Some of the loudest opposition to Carranza’s rocky reign has come from Asian New Yorkers. As the city’s top academic achievers, they have the most to lose from City Hall’s various diversification campaigns – including admissions changes at the city’s specialized high schools.

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