Fil-Am NY school superintendent sues for $20M, alleging race and gender bias

Jennifer Carreón, 45, complained that Chancellor David Banks replaced her with her less experienced deputy, David Norment, in order to promote black males. TWITTER

A Filipino American woman school superintendent in Queens, New York has sued the city ‘s Department of Education for $20 million, alleging race and gender discrimination.

Jennifer Carreón, 45, complained that she was replaced with her less experienced deputy, David Norment, whom she had trained, because NY Department of Education leaders wanted to promote black males.

The suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, is the first legal challenge to Chancellor David Banks’ “shake up,” which involved asking all school correspondents to reapply for their jobs, according to the NY Post

Carreon grew up in Lower Manhattan and was a teacher who rose to principal, assistant superintendent, and acting superintendent. She was appointed District 27 superintendent in 2019.

She says that as superintendent she pushed for Social and Emotional Learning and created the district’s first website and newsletter.

Carreón told The Post that she hired Norment as her deputy. However, she was surprised that the Department invited  Norment to a District 27 town hall to compete for her job.

District 27 covers 50 schools with 41,500 students in southern Queens and the Rockaways. The students are 41% Hispanic, 21.9% Asian-American, 20.6% black, and 9.9% white, reported the Post.

Carreón accepted a new job title, executive director of School Support and Operations, in Lower Manhattan’s District 1, at the same salary, $187,400. Appointed superintendents got raises to $215,000 or $230,000.