Embarrass New York — and get the ax.
The city Department of Education tosses an extra charge at teachers and staffers whose screw-ups make the news — claiming they “caused widespread negative publicity, ridicule and notoriety” for the agency.
The DOE’s use of the bad-rep rap has risen with the explosion of social and other online media.
The DOE contends bad publicity hinders employees and schools in educating students. Critics say the charge has a chilling effect on free speech.
Among the recent cases against teachers:
• Alina Brito and Cindy Mauro, teachers at James Madison HS in Brooklyn, were caught in a tryst in an empty classroom in 2009. The DOE cited the resulting media sensation as a reason to ax them.
But appellate judges last month found the termination “shockingly disproportionate” to the offense and ordered them rehired.
• Natalya Sokolson Gordon, of PS 329 in Coney Island, exchanged steamy texts and pics with an investigator who was looking into allegations against her. The investigator, Lawrence Scott, resigned, but Gordon talked to The Post, saying she had feared losing her job if she didn’t flirt with him.
The DOE accused her of misconduct for sexting — and for creating bad news.
• Damian Esteban, of Williamsburg HS for Architecture and Design, was busted with 20 single-use bags of heroin while serving as a murder-trial juror in October 2012.
In firing him, the DOE cited headlines in city papers. But a Manhattan Supreme Court judge last September overturned his termination, saying Esteban harmed no students and had gone into rehab. The city is appealing.