Fran Rabinowitz – who resigned in December as the leader of Bridgeport Public Schools after it became clear the state would decline her request to intervene in her troubled district – has landed a new job as executive director of the Connecticut Assocation of Public School Superintendents.
Rabinowitz was seeking help from the state because she said one local board member was being a “bully” and was preventing things from getting accomplished in her low-performing district.
Rabinowitz, 67, also has been a deputy commissioner for the State Department of Education, superintendent of Hamden Public Schools and a key witness against the state in the recent school-funding trial. She also was a finalist for the state’s education commissioner’s post but withdrew her name because she felt there was too much work still to do in Bridgeport.
During an interview, Rabinowitz said she is looking forward to advocating on behalf of superintendents at the State Capitol and on state education panels.
“I think that the superintendent’s role in education is so important,” said Rabinowitz, who lives in Branford. “I think it’s important to share with legislators what support they can provide superintendents.”
Rabinowitz succeeds Joseph Cirasuolo, who will retire July 1.