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The latest New York Post scoop says New York City taxpayers may be quietly funding a six-figure paycheck for a “principal” who never ran a school. Caleb Haraguchi‑Combs — named this year as the project director and founding principal for the proposed Next Generation Technology High School — is reported to have been paid a principal‑level salary of $192,374 even after the Department of Education withdrew the proposal. If true, that is a bold new chapter in the city’s long book of bureaucratic mystery and misplaced priorities.
What the new report says
The story is simple on its face. The NYC DOE listed Next Generation Technology High School as a withdrawn proposal in April after community pushback over merit‑based admissions and the school’s heavy focus on artificial intelligence. Yet public payroll figures, according to the report, show Caleb Haraguchi‑Combs on a principal pay line of roughly $192,374 — up from about $142,000 when he served as an assistant principal elsewhere. The DOE told reporters he is “developing new proposals and supporting in‑progress proposals.” An anonymous DOE source, however, says principals are usually bumped back to assistant principal if a school never opens. That disagreement over who approved what and why is the core question here.
Why this matters to taxpayers and parents
This is not just a payroll quibble. It is about accountability, transparency, and the culture inside the NYC DOE under Schools Chancellor Kamar H. Samuels and Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Naming a principal before a school gets final approval? Paying principal wages while the building never opens? Those moves invite suspicion and stink of mismanagement. New Yorkers already see budget shortfalls, crowded classrooms, and dubious education experiments. They do not need six‑figure salaries going to paper principals while real students wait for real improvements.
Fixes the city should make — now
If the reports are accurate, the DOE should release payroll and appointment memos immediately. Public records requests should seek clear documentation: who authorized the pay change, what job title he held after the withdrawal, and whether any principals’ complaint letters exist. The chancellor’s office must answer on the record. If the department made an administrative error, correct it and return the money to the public coffers. If this was an intentional perk for favored hires, open an investigation. Parents and taxpayers deserve answers, not polite euphemisms about “supporting proposals.”
New York’s schools face real problems: low test scores, passing students who aren’t ready, and mixed messages from officials who ban AI for kids yet flirt with AI schools. Whatever you think of AI or merit‑based entry, the rules should be clear and applied fairly. Naming principals before a school is approved and paying them like they already run it is not clarity — it’s chaos. The DOE must clean house and give taxpayers what they pay for: honest management and better schools, not phantom principals on the payroll.
