New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña has announced her retirement.

The New York Daily News reports that Fariña, 74, will leave her job running the nation's largest school system. Mayor Bill de Blasio says Fariña will stay on for the next few months as a search for her replacement proceeds.

"So many children benefited, so many educators benefited, from her leadership," de Blasio said Thursday. "I asked a lot of Carmen Fariña, and she gave me a lot more."

A national search for Fariña’s successor has been underway for weeks, de Blasio says. He emphasized that the next chancellor, like Fariña, will be an educator.

Education Department officials received emails Wednesday evening saying Fariña would step down early next year.

Fariña, who initially retired in 2006 after a 40-year career in the city schools, returned in 2014 when the newly elected de Blasio persuaded her to take the chancellor job.

"The thing I’m proudest of is that we’ve brought back dignity to teaching, joy to learning, and trust to the system," Fariña told reporters Thursday.

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