Chicago Public Schools CEO Jean Claude Brizard  is out, to be replaced permanently by the school system's chief education officer, a spokeswoman for Mayor Rahm Emanuel  said Thursday.

Brizard, who has been the CEO for about 17 months, made a mutual  decision with the mayor that it was best he leave the top school post, mayoral spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton said.

"J.C. spoke with (School Board President) David Vitale and the mayor, and said 'I'm becoming a distraction. This is becoming more about me than it is about our mission to help the kids,'" Hamilton said.

Brizard confirmed it was a “mutual agreement’’ between himself and the mayor about leaving.

Brizard said he was the one who came to the mayor and the board, after he heard “rumors’’ in Tribune reports that the mayor wasn’t happy. 

“I approached him about a week and a half ago, and I think we agreed that it is best that we separated,’’ Brizard said tonight in a telephone interview. “I’m the one who started the conversation.’’

“I think perhaps there were issues; I call it a marriage that was perhaps imperfect,’’ said Brizard. “My style and personality is maybe not what the mayor wants.’’