An embattled Department of Education administrator hired this year to serve in a newly formed senior position despite a checkered work history is leaving, The Post has learned.
Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza brought on former California colleague Abram Jimenez as “senior executive director of continuous school improvement” at a salary of $205,416.
The Post reported last month that Jimenez, 42, had resigned as an assistant principal from a Chula Vista, California, school in 2011 after a probe discovered $92,295 in unpaid school invoices and misused student club funds.
In 2003, while working as a teacher and football coach, Jimenez was put on probation for using inappropriate language and other offensive behavior.
Sources said Wednesday that Jimenez has told colleagues he wants to return to California to be closer to his wife and children, who have remained there since his move to New York.
“It’s been a tremendous honor to serve the 1.1 million students in the nation’s largest district and I’m so proud of the work I’ve been part of over the past year,” Jimenez said in a statement to The Post. “I’m excited to return to my family in California, and I’m confident our team will continue the great work we’ve started.”
Carranza defended the hire after the revelations arose and praised Jimenez’s performance and qualifications.
He also defended his right as top DOE executive to bring in staffers of his choosing.
“Dr. Jimenez is a proven leader who could run school districts across the country, and we’re lucky to have had him on our team in New York City,” Carranza said Wednesday. “He’s made a lasting impact on how we support our 1,800 schools, and we’re sorry to see him go. We wish him the best.”
But critics questioned the lack of a competitive process for Jimenez’s position or any public announcement of its creation.
The Special Commissioner of Investigation is probing the hires of Jimenez and two women allegedly brought on by Carranza without formal job postings.
Jimenez came to New York from California after serving as an executive with Illuminate Education Inc., a student-data management firm.
The company does business with the DOE, but officials have insisted that Jimenez has had no involvement with it since his arrival.
The DOE said Wednesday that Jimenez was instrumental in helping advance several initiatives during his stay in New York.