Connecticut Commissioner of Education Betty J. Sternberg said last week she is stepping down to become a district superintendent, ending a tenure that may be best known for her clashes with the federal government over testing requirements under the No Child Left Behind Act.
In August, Ms. Sternberg is slated to assume the superintendency of the Greenwich, Conn., public schools, a 9,000-student district just north of New York City that serves one of the country’s most affluent communities. Her new salary will be $210,000, compared with $148,000 as state schools chief.
The job will be her first as a district chief. Ms. Sternberg, 56, has served in the state education agency in various jobs since 1980. After becoming its top official in 2003, she became a vocal critic of testing provisions in the federal law that she said would “dumb up” the state’s assessments.
Those criticisms fueled a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education by Connecticut state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. That suit is in the federal district court in New Haven. (“Connecticut Files Court Challenge to NCLB,” Aug. 31, 2005.)
