To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

Weingarten, who led the union since 1998, made the announcement at the union's Delegate Assembly meeting.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg says she was a big part of the incredible turnaround made by city schools. Governor David Paterson called her an innovative leader and City Comptroller Bill Thompson called her a fighter.

Weingarten says she needs to devote all of her time to her role as president of the American Federation of Teachers, which she was elected to last July.

"Even though each job is more than full time, deserving 24/7 attention, and while we have accomplished much this last year, the continuing challenges ahead require that both the local and the national unions have full-time presidents," said Weingarten.

Michael Mulgrew, Weingarten's deputy and a former teacher and union vice president, is expected to be named interim president.

Meanwhile, the Independent Community of Educators and Teachers for a Just Cause picked James Eterno to run against Mulgrew in the 2010 UFT elections.

Eterno is the chapter leader at Jamaica High School.