New York City School Chancellor Richard Carranza increases his personal security detail after receiving threats, according to two people at a recent parent meeting where Carranza discussed the safety concerns. Outspoken style and aggressive proposals on school diversity have made him a lightning rod in charged city schools debates, is traveling with two body guards after receiving threatening messages, he told parent leaders at a meeting of the Education Council Consortium last week.
The safety concerns have become really serious, said one parent who attended the meeting. Education Department spokeswoman Miranda Barbot stated that chancellor taking the threats seriously. We continue to work closely with the NYPD and will make any adjustments necessary to ensure the chancellor’s safety. The department declined to elaborate on the details of the threats. The security woes come amid Carranza’s tour through the city’s 32 school districts for open town hall meetings, some of which have sparked controversy.
At a recent meeting in Bayside, Queens, two parents demanded answers about assaults, said their middle school kids suffered. Meeting organizers declined to yield the floor as the event descended into a shouting match, and Carranza made an early exit. His departure drew criticisms from critics and prompted a war of words with lawmakers, eventually prompting the schools chief to apologize to parents.
Carranza, hails from Arizona and is the son of Mexican immigrants, stated in recent unrelated press conference that he’s been the target of racist attacks calling him Taco Carranza and told to go back to where he comes from. The chancellor has a vocal group of critics including many Asian parents attend meetings to denounce Carranza’s proposal to scrap the single test that currently determines admissions to the city’s specialized high schools.
The protesters also slammed the chancellor’s handling of an elected parent leader who referred to Asians as yellow folks in a group email, accusing the schools chief of reacting with less urgency because the slur was directed towards Asians. Carranza has condemned the language but said he won’t remove the parent leader.
Carranza was castigated again this week after the Education Department tried to change the location of an upcoming town hall in a Chinatown middle school to a venue in Chelsea, citing the need for a school with a larger auditorium. But as critics cried foul, a department spokeswoman stated the event would stay in Chinatown as originally planned.
