Carmen Farina says goodbye to chancellor post after 52 years in NYC schools
NEW YORK -- After 52 years in New York City public schools, Carmen Farina said goodbye.
Crowds cheered and waved "Thank You" signs Friday as Farina left the Department of Education headquarters in Lower Manhattan on her last day as New York City Schools Chancellor.
Few, if any, chancellors in the history of New York could claim to have the length and depth of experience as Carmen Farina had.
She rose to the office of chancellor after making classroom teaching her life's work. She spent the first 22 years of her career as a social studies teacher in Cobble Hill.
Known as a stickler for detail, she spent long hours outside the chancellor's office -- and visited most of the city's 1,200 schools.
Mayor de Blasio appointed Richard Carranza of Houston to succeed Farina after she announced her retirement late last year. Carranza starts on Monday.
Farina reflected on her career in an essay published in the New York Daily News.
"There have been good days, not-so-good days, and days when I've gone straight home and had a glass of wine," she wrote. "However, being chancellor has been the privilege of a career and a lifetime."
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