CHICAGO – Three weeks after Chicago teachers returned to the classroom following a strike, Mayor Rahm Emanuel accepted the resignation of his schools CEO and replaced him with a veteran educator and administrator who he said had the experience to take Chicago school reforms “to the next level.”

Chicago Public Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard resigned by mutual agreement after “constant questions” about his oversight became a distraction to the mayor’s reform goals, Emanuel said at a news conference Friday. Brizard announced Thursday night that he was stepping down after just 17 months.

Emanuel moved quickly to name a permanent replacement: Barbara Byrd-Bennett, a longtime teacher and administrator who had been serving as Chicago’s interim chief education officer and played a far more visible role than Brizard in the teacher contract negotiations.