SCHOOL PAY-GAP ‘FLAP’

DOE big ousted

City schools chief David Banks has ousted the deputy in charge of his pet reading push — just months after she allegedly complained about getting paid less than her male counterparts, The Post has learned.

Banks sent an email to superintendents Monday informing them that Carolyne Quintana (inset), deputy chancellor for teaching and learning, is out in a major leadership shake-up — with him claiming she “graciously agreed” to stay until the end of the school year to “support the transition.”

But a well-placed source said Quintana got the boot and was “warned to keep quiet” about the move.

“First Chancellor Dan Weisberg gave her an ultimatum,” the source said. “If she keeps quiet about this, she’ll be leaving with good relationships. If this becomes a big problem, then it’s going to be a different situation.”

In the fall, Quintana allegedly complained that Banks’ former deputy chancellor for leadership, Desmond Blackburn, was earning $265,000 a year while she and two other female deputy chancellors had been earning $241,000, another source told The Post at the time.

“She never got her pay increase,” the first source said Monday. “Instead, she was shown the door.”

Banks’ email said the Department of Education will be “dissolving” the teaching and learning division that Quintana had led and “integrating its work into the Division of School Leadership under . . . Deputy Chancellor Dr. Danika Rux.” ‘A huge loss’

Banks’ announcement sent shock waves across the school system.

“Of all the appointments made by Banks, Quintana was by far the strongest,” a Queens teacher told The Post anonymously Monday.

“This is a huge loss for the administration and her work in STEM for the students of NYC.

“She’s literally the only one with a brain.”

The DOE had no comment. Quintana did not respond to a Post request for comment, but she released a statement through the DOE thanking the administration for the opportunity to “lead historic work” on literacy.