Former Ground-Breaking Newton Superintendent Aaron Fink Dies, 95

NEWTON, MA — The man known to many as someone who put teachers and school community members first and stuck to his convictions, passed away after a short illness on April 25. He was 95.

Aaron Fink was the Superintendent of Newton Public Schools for 13 years - one of the longest running in the job - between 1969 and 1982. During that time he expanded the METCO program making it one of the largest and most successful of the voluntary busing programs in the state, worked to improve special education in Newton and brought the separate parts of the education department under one roof. He also began an exchange program between Newton and a city in China that has lasted to this day, making it one of the longest running exchanges between the US and China. He's known for strengthening the role of principals in Newton public schools and improving the Newton Public School System.

"He was a big part of why our schools are so great today," said Emily Norton in a tweet.

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Current Superintendent David Fleishman who met him a few years back when Fink was in his 80s, described Fink as physically and mentally fit, "smart, dynamic, and full of wonderful education ideas."

And part of what made Fink so great, was his passion for making his surroundings better, said former School Committee member Sandy Fleishman who is current Superintendent Fleishman's aunt.

Sandy Fleishman remembers meeting Fink for the first time as a mother of three in the Newton Public School system. Her youngest daughter was diagnosed with a hearing impairment but Fleishman wanted her daughter to follow in her older brother's footsteps and go to Newton Public Schools, not least because sending her to a special school for the deaf would be expensive.

She and her husband went in to see Fink about keeping their daughter in public schools at a time before the Federal Special Education laws today.

"And he worked with us. I mean, it was so true that he was always looking for opportunities to expand education for children who had been excluded," she said.

Later, when she was on the School Committee, she said she saw first hand what a fantastic educator and mentor he was.

"That's unusual. He was an excellent educator and always did the right thing for kids the teachers and the community and I think that was his priority," she said.

Fink was superintendent at at time when enrollment was dropping and the Newton School Committee had to make a decision about whether to continue asking the city to fund the buildings or good education.

The School Committee ultimately chose good education, she said. But it was a difficult time. Closing schools felt disruptive, and painful and for those at the schools about to close it was ugly.

"I was miserable over the closing of this school," she said. People were calling and threatening her and so she turned to Fink who she said had always been able to switch responsibly between the hats he wore, friend, mentor and superintendent.

He asked her what the right thing to do was. She remembers telling him the right thing was to close the school.

He said "Sandy, what do you want to do for the rest of your life? Do you want to be on the School Committee for the rest of your life?" she remembers saying no. "Then do the right thing. Whether you get elected again or not is not important. What's important is that you do the right thing for the kids and the schools."

It was a poignant moment. "And it stuck with me the rest of my life. That's the kind of guy Aaron is," she said. "We could use more people like Aaron... I will really miss him as a friend."

That sense of integrity is what those who worked with him across the city remember most, too.

"They don't make 'em like they used to," said Councilor Lenny Gentile who started on the then Board of Aldermen when Fink was in his last year.

Gentile described Fink as a strong leader and as someone who epitomizes what people mean when they say they want a "visionary leader" in education. "He was a strong leader, he stuck to his convictions. I didn't necessarily agree with them all the time, but he was a man of integrity," said Gentile.

When he retired from Newton, he served as senior consultant to the College Board, and worked to improve the transition of minority students from inner city schools to college.

Before he came to Newton, he was principal of Scarsdale High School in New York for eight years. According to his obituary at Legacy.com, when he left Scarsdale, the students said in the dedication of their yearbook;

"This is Aaron Fink: alive, approachable, in touch with his school, willing and eager to listen and react to any demand - student or faculty, unafraid to deal in controversy, unafraid to take a stand which does not yield to the immediate pressures. He sets the tone for the school he represents, liberal, open to inquiry, willing to experiment."

He taught education leadership at the Harvard School of Education. In World War II he served in the Middle East and the African front and wrote for Stars and Stripes magazine.

He leaves his wife Norma (Wittelshofer), two daughters - Judith Rasher of Fernadina Beach, FL and Karen Mandeville of Melrose, two grandsons and two step-daughters - Patricia Mintz of Oakland, CA and Amy Record of West Fairlee, VT.

There was a private family memorial service, according to Legacy.com

Read his full obituary at Legacy.com. : Aaron Fink

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File Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch