New NYC schools chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos ‘elevates’ 14 educrats in DOE reshuffling

Schools chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos has promoted 14 educrats to new positions in the city Department of Education, The Post has learned. 

Aviles-Ramos announced the changes Thursday in a memo to DOE colleagues, four months after replacing David Banks, who left under a cloud after the FBI seized his phones in a corruption probe.

In a major move, Aviles-Ramos named Miatheresa Pate the DOE’s chief academic officer, making her role permanent since she replaced Carolyne Quintana, who was ousted in a major shakeup last year.

Dr. Miatheresa Pate, named the DOE’s Chief Academic Officer, will oversee reading and math programs.

Pate will oversee the DOE’s “instructional priorities,” including major reading and math curriculum changes launched by Banks, Aviles-Ramos said.

Formerly the interim head of teaching and learning, Pate has come under scrutiny for running a lucrative side gig, in which she charges fees up to $289.95 per person to attend her workshops for aspiring executives.

It’s unclear what salary increases come with the promotions. Many of the appointees already make top salaries: Pate got $278,040 in 2023-24.

Also part of the DOE shuffle, Aviles-Ramos said the communications, intergovernmental affairs, policy and advocacy teams will report directly to her.

Former press secretary under Banks, Nathaniel Styer, who once defended a class map that erased Israel, will become executive director of policy communications to “manage key policy messaging,” the memo said. He made $185,436 last fiscal year.

“It’s the propaganda office,” quipped David Bloomfield, a Brooklyn College and CUNY grad center education professor.

Former DOE press secretary under David Banks, Nathaniel Styer, is now Executive Director of Policy Communications. LinkedIn/Nathaniel Styer

“New chancellors are entitled to reorganize according to their management style,” he said, but called some new executive positions duplicative: “Playing games with titles is only a way of inflating salaries.”

The staffing changes “elevate colleagues” already working for the DOE, Aviles-Ramos wrote.

Among her promotions, the chancellor named Katherine Jedrlinic the senior executive director for policy and advocacy, and David Mantell as executive director under her.

NYC schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos’ reshuffling comes four months after she took the DOE’s helm. Matthew McDermott

Xavier Edwards was tapped as senior executive director of strategy, “conducting strategic planning and tracking progress on agency-wide initiatives.”

In the Division of Operations and Finance, Michael Cheatham is now the senior advisor to Chief Financial Officer Seritta Scott. 

In Early Childhood Education, Sonya Hooks will serve as chief of capacity building and family engagement.