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De Blasio suggests ex-schools chancellor Carranza canceled Columbus
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Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday appeared to blame his divisive former schools chief for the controversial decision to cancel students’ traditional Columbus Day holiday and replace it with “Indigenous Peoples’ Day.”
During his daily briefing from City Hall, de Blasio claimed that both he and new schools Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter were completely blindsided by the move — even though he’s had total control over the school system for nearly the past eight years.
“I’m as miffed as you are, honestly,” de Blasio said.
“It’s obviously something that should have been raised to the [new] chancellor, should have been raised to me.”
The mayor also attempted to insulate himself by describing the school system as “a truly massive, sprawling bureaucracy.”
De Blasio said that “someone put this in motion” before Porter replaced former Chancellor Richard Carranza on March 15.
“They didn’t brief me, they should have. They should have briefed her. It was not the right way to do things. It just wasn’t,” he said.
When pressed by The Post on whether he knew when, how and by whom the decision was made, de Blasio said, “No, no and no.”
Officials are going to “try and track it back,” he added.
Carranza announced his resignation in February following three tumultuous years during which his diversity initiatives outraged some parents who frequently clashed with him at public meetings.
He’s now employed as chief of strategy and global development for the online education company IXL Learning, which was paid $3.3 million by the DOE during the past two years, The Post revealed last month.
The expose led City Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens) to demand probes by the city Department of Investigation and Conflicts of Interest Board.
Carranza, IXL and the DOE did not immediately return requests for comment.
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