DOE suit better late than error

A Queens high-school teacher accused of making sexist and anti-Semitic remarks to students dodged disciplinary action after administrators blew a deadline — by more than two years.

Now, to overcome its tardiness, the Department of Education has taken the unusual step of suing the teacher and the administrative judge who tossed the disciplinary proceeding.

The DOE is more often the defendant in lawsuits filed by ex-teachers seeking to reverse their firings.

Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Academy math teacher Alan Herz allegedly told one student, “Oh, yeah, you don’t get it because you’re a female” and another, “I know how you Jewish people are, and it’s OK because I am Jewish, I know how Jewish people run business” in 2014, according to court papers.

But Administrative Law Judge Philip Maier never even heard the merits of the case because he determined that education officials blew a 90-day deadline to issue findings following an investigation.

The DOE began investigating Herz in March 2014 but didn’t provide a report until November 2016, according to court papers.

On Feb. 15, Maier said the DOE could not present evidence to prove the charges against Herz because the long delay violated a contractual obligation.

At least one parent from the Jamaica school agreed with the arbitrator.

“The teacher’s comments are stupid, but I’m more disturbed that the school missed the deadline by two years,” said a mom whose son had been in Herz’s 10th-grade geometry class.

A DOE spokesman did not return requests for comment about the delay.

The new Manhattan Supreme Court suit says Maier’s ruling is “irrational.” The suit seeks a new disciplinary hearing and legal costs.

Herz, who earned $108,800 last year, said he had no reaction to the lawsuit. “I don’t even know what the next step is and that’s the worst part of it,” he told The Post.

Maier did not immediately return requests for comment.