Metro

Former teacher Carmen Farina named school chancellor

Incoming Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina said Monday her first priority would be getting parents more engaged with their schools — a common refrain among new chancellors.

But the lifelong educator and Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio said the difference this time is that their policies — unlike the current administration’s — won’t fracture the schools system.

“There are things that need to happen, but they need to happen with people — not to people,” said Farina, a well-respected former teacher, principal, superintendent and deputy chancellor.

De Blasio, who announced Farina’s anticipated appointment Monday at his kids’ former middle school in Park Slope, said he’ll institute an immediate moratorium on school closures and space-sharing agreements between schools — often involving charters — known as co-locations.

Teacher training, which Farina said could be done better in-house rather than through expensive external contracts – will also be a priority, as will reducing the emphasis on high-stakes standardized tests.

Farina said that she plans to review all current policies before deciding which to keep and that
she’s committed to a long-term appointment as chancellor, despite having retired as deputy chancellor in 2006.

“I don’t do anything halfway,” she said.

Farina also acknowledged for the first time publicly that her departure from the Bloomberg administration was at least partially driven by ideology.

She said she had been concerned about the sidelining and demoralizing of teachers and principals — and promised a change in both tone and educational focus.

“To me, all change happens in the classroom,” she said.