The Miami man whom Mayor Bill de Blasio had already announced as the city’s new schools chancellor abruptly rejected the gig in the middle of a public meeting Thursday — opting instead to stay in his current position as Miami-Dade public school superintendent.
“The decision I made is a decision I can no longer sustain. I am breaking an agreement between adults to honor an agreement, a pact I have with the children of Miami,” said Alberto Carvalho during a lengthy emergency school board meeting in Miami called after news of his apparent defection to New York broke.
After several hours of glowing praise of Carvalho’s work — including an audience chant of, “Please don’t go! Please don’t go!” — Carvalho suddenly asked for several recesses, in which he struggled to get de Blasio on the phone.
He eventually returned to tell the crowd that he’d decided to stay in Miami — and received a rapturous applause.
The move has left the mayor with egg on his face, after Hizzoner bragged abou🤪t the appointment in a press release Wednesday.
“Alberto Carvalho is a world-class educator with an unmatched track record of success. I am very confident that our extensive, national search has found New York City the best person to lead the nation’s largest school system into the future. I look forward to welcoming our new chancellor to New York City in the days ahead,” de Blasio said in a release.
City Hall spokesman Eric Phillips — who had been singing Carvalho’s praises just hours earlier — immediately turned on the planned replacement for outgoing school chief Carmen Fariña.
“He was a Yes for a week+, until he was a No 15 minutes ago. Bullet dodged,” after Carvalho’s announcement.
“Who would ever hire this guy again? Who would ever vote for him?” .