Frank Macchiarola (1941-2012), RIP

yes Chester E. Finn, Jr. / December 20, 2012

Frank Macchiarola will be much missed. Photo from the New York Times.

It's been years since I last saw Frank Macchiarola, whom I encountered most often during his extended tenure (1978-83) as New York City's schools chancellor back when Ed Koch was mayor—and long before the mayor was really in charge of education. But then and since, it was always a pleasure and a learning experience to bump into him, to share a meeting or meal with him, and so on. The son of a sanitation worker, he had a distinguished and remarkably diverse career in key positions in education (both K–12 and higher) and government, always in New York. He was student-centered, politically astute, tireless, very smart, entrepreneurial—and kind, generous, and decent. He'll be much missed, not least by me. We need more like him.

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