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New York City Paid a Rapper More Than $192,000 a Year to Run a High School That Never Opened
The city scrapped its planned AI-focused school in April, but the project director stayed on the payroll.
Filed November 10, 2026 · 📍 New York City, NY 10007
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Key points
- NYC paid a project director more than $192,000 a year for a planned AI high school
- The city scrapped the school in April
- Critics say the money should have gone to real classrooms
New York City taxpayers have been paying top dollar for a school that does not exist.
The city's Department of Education has been paying Caleb Haraguchi-Combs more than $192,000 a year as project director of a planned high school focused on artificial intelligence. The city scrapped the school in April [1]. Hot Air noted Haraguchi-Combs is also a rapper [2].
American Thinker reported the payments approach $200,000 [3].
Report Card's take: this is the kind of waste that makes parents furious. That money could have paid for teachers, tutors or textbooks for kids in schools that actually have students. Someone at the DOE owes taxpayers an explanation.
Sources
New York City paid $192,000 a year to run a school that never opened. What should happen?
- Fire whoever approved it
- Make the city pay it back
- Audit every school district
- It's a drop in the bucket
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