Overview
- Vendor Sean Kreyling told the City Council Wednesday that investigators ignored documents tying Chancellor Kamar Samuels to a 2023 $180,000 Language Learning Network contract that had been split into smaller payments to avoid competitive bidding.
- The Special Commissioner of Investigation said it is aware of the new allegations, stands by its prior findings and continues to investigate Samuels' role in the contract.
- Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he remains confident in Samuels' leadership and will await SCI's conclusions while the DOE has delayed turning over full contracting records to the Council.
- SCI had recommended in June 2025 that deputy superintendent Mariela Graham be fired over related procurement issues, but DOE General Counsel Liz Vladeck overruled that advice and later appointed Graham to a senior, $225,571-a-year post.
- Advocates and Council leaders say the episode shows how splitting payments under the city's $25,000 and $15,000 thresholds can dodge oversight, and they are pressing for public contract disclosure and tighter limits on no-bid emergency purchases after an earlier whistleblower probe urged the DOE to stop using Language Learning Network.