David C. Banks, the chancellor of New York City’s public school system, said on Tuesday that he would resign from his post at the end of December.
Mr. Banks, who was the first major appointment of Mayor Eric Adams’s administration, announced his departure only a few weeks after federal agents seized his phone, and as the city government is embroiled in a wide-ranging corruption scandal that has led to the resignation of the police commissioner and the city’s top lawyer. The health commissioner also announced earlier this week that he would be stepping down by the end of the year.
That Mr. Banks, one of the mayor’s closest allies, would announce his departure from the administration at its lowest moment — and in the middle of the school year — underscores the depth of the crisis gripping City Hall. He has said since at least the mid-1990s that leading New York City’s school system, the nation’s largest, was the job he wanted more than any other.
The chancellor’s phone was seized around dawn on Sept. 4, just before the first day of school, as part of an investigation that appears to be focused at least in part on a consulting firm run by his youngest brother.
Mr. Banks’s fiancée, Sheena Wright, the first deputy mayor, also had her phone seized when federal agents appeared at their door. And his younger brother, Philip B. Banks III, the deputy mayor for public safety, also had his phone taken by federal agents.
“I have always lived my life with integrity, every day,” Chancellor Banks said at a recent news conference, when asked about the searches.
In a statement on Tuesday, Mr. Adams thanked the chancellor, and said that the public school system had “transformed” in the three years that he had run it.
“On behalf of all New Yorkers, we thank Chancellor Banks for his service, and wish him well in his retirement at the end of the calendar year,” he added.
It was not immediately clear who would replace the chancellor.
Mr. Banks, a longtime friend and informal education adviser to the mayor, was the clear choice for chancellor from the night that Mr. Adams won the Democratic primary in 2021, when Mr. Banks appeared onstage with him, beaming.
On the frigid winter morning when Mr. Banks was officially named to the job, the mayor-elect spoke of his admiration for the Banks family and for David Banks specifically.
Mr. Adams said, to thunderous applause, that he had not had to conduct a national search to find the right person to run the city’s schools.
“I asked him what he stood for,” Mr. Adams said of Mr. Banks. “I went and visited his family, and talked to his dad and his mother. I spoke with his brothers and the people that were in his circle. I wanted to see the character of the man I was going to turn our babies over to.”
The verdict was resounding: “I know that this is the right man for the job,” Mr. Adams said then. “And we not only respect each other, we love each other.”
Things appear to have taken a turn.
People with direct knowledge of the chancellor’s thinking since the raids said he had become frustrated by the chaos, specifically as it related to his fiancée, Ms. Wright, and was questioning the value of staying on.
Just last week, Mr. Banks sought to project stability as he gave his annual “State of Our Schools” address. During the speech, the chancellor tried to focus on business as usual, but referred opaquely to the swirling scandals.
“When life presents its greatest challenges to you, always go within yourself, and remember who you are, and stand strong,” he said.
Mr. Banks received a standing ovation from the educators and elected officials gathered for the speech, held in a high school auditorium last Tuesday. He said at a news conference afterward that the response showed that he was well respected across the city.
“I think there’s a genuine fondness across the system that I think you see reflected in that,” Mr. Banks said. “I’m very open and transparent, not just with the press, but with our teachers and our staff.”
Mr. Banks, who took over as the city battled a surge in coronavirus cases, faced persistent challenges during his tenure.
Months into the job, the chancellor came under fire as school budget cuts by the Adams administration irked educators and families, endangering New York’s free prekindergarten programs and drawing the ire of the City Council.
The school system also consistently struggled to respond to the arrival of nearly 40,000 new migrant children since the summer of 2022, which frustrated many school leaders.
Over the past year, the Education Department had also had to navigate tensions over Israel-Hamas war. A raucous demonstration at a Queens high school — in which a pro-Israel teacher was targeted and moved to a different floor — became a major flashpoint for some Jewish families and educators across New York.
In May, Mr. Banks appeared before Congress during a widely praised hearing on antisemitism in public schools. He struck a combative yet confident tone, ardently denying that his district had failed to respond adequately to incidents of hate.
That testimony is likely to be remembered as a high point of the chancellor’s tenure, and an occasion where he put his considerable political skills to work.
“The complexity of New York City prepares you for moments like this,” Mr. Banks said at a news conference after the hearing.
The post David Banks, New York City’s Schools Chancellor, to Resign appeared first on New York Times.
