New York City Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio today will name Carmen Fariña as his pick for chancellor of the 1 million student school system, The New York Times is reporting.
Farina, an educator for decades in the New York City system, retired from a deputy chancellor position in 2006, a role she served in for a couple of years during the administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
Rumors and speculation around de Blasio’s choice for chancellor have been swirling for nearly two months, with such high-profile names as Kaya Henderson, the chancellor in the District of Columbia, and Andrés Alonso, the recently retired chief executive officer of the Baltimore City school system, bandied about as likely picks.
De Blasio made clear during his campaign that he would select a chancellor whose views are in line with his own on education, including many positions that are in sharp contrast to Bloomberg’s record of closing down underperforming schools and promoting rapid charter school expansion.
Mayor-elect de Blasio is expected to publicly announce Fariña’s appointment later today, according to the Times.
(photo: Education Week file)