The city's outgoing chancellor of public schools says she's going to pass the baton to her successor further ahead from where she received it.

Chancellor Carmen Farina spent part of Wednesday speaking with News 12 about the trials and successes of her tenure.

"I think we've had a lot of wonderful moments," she says. "Unfortunately, the terrible moments are always tragedies that we can't avoid."

She spent the past four years leading the country's largest public school system, facing a number of challenges and implementing milestones like universal pre-K.

"You work together, because we're all here to raise student achievement," she says. "You need to be able to articulate your vision...in a way that motivates other people to follow it."

As she prepares to leave office, she says the country faces a difficult task attracting new teachers.

"We're going to be in a real crisis mode in this country if the teacher retention and recruitment is not kept up to par with the amount of kids that are coming to our schools," she says.

Her successor is expected to be named within the next few weeks. Farina is remaining tightlipped for the time being.

"To be announced," she says.