US News

ED. DEPT. PATERSON CALLS GOT GAL A JOB

ALBANY – The city Department of Education confirmed yesterday that Gov. Paterson intervened on behalf of Olympic gold-medalist Diane Dixon to get her a job after she’d been turned down – around the same time she told The Post she had tape recordings proving her close relationship with him.

“On 2/15/08, the coordinator received a phone call from Lt. Gov. David Paterson recommending Ms. Dixon for the CEC [Community Education Council] specialist position,” the department said in a detailed statement describing the events surrounding Dixon’s job offer.

Education officials at first concluded that Dixon was not “a good fit” for the $65,000-a-year post. Her résumé was forwarded to another education bureaucrat.

Paterson’s phone call came two weeks later to the official who had interviewed Dixon, with the pol “recommending” her for the job, the statement said.

On Feb. 21, the DOE had Dixon come back for a second interview and decided that she “might be a good fit” for a different position, district family advocate, paying $50,000 a year.

Dixon e-mailed The Post on March 9 claiming that she would be the district family advocate in District 17, Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

The department stated, “Most importantly, Lt. Gov. David Paterson was mostly responsible.”

fredric.dicker@nypost.com