Donald Rappaport, schools official

Posted 8/24/11

Donald Rappaport, 84, formerly of Chestnut Hill, who was a schools official for both the federal and state governments, died of cancer Aug. 12 at his home in the Georgetown section of Washington.

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Donald Rappaport, schools official

Posted

Donald Rappaport, 84, formerly of Chestnut Hill, who was a schools official for both the federal and state governments, died of cancer Aug. 12 at his home in the Georgetown section of Washington.

Mr. Rappaport, who moved to Washington in 1983, had been chief financial officer and chief information officer for the U.S. Department of Education under President Clinton from 1997 to 1999. He also served a six-year term as a member of the Pennsylvania Board of Education, and was appointed chairman of that board in 1974 by Governor Milton J. Shapp.

He also had been chairman of a budget task force for the Philadelphia Board of Education and had been the board’s deputy superintendent for administration.

He was coauthor, with David Bushnell, of “Planned Change in Education: A Systems Approach.”

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., he graduated from Montclair (N.J.) Academy. He received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Yale University, and master’s degrees in both economics and business administration from the University of Pennsylvania.

He joined the staff of Price Waterhouse in 1949 and later became national director of small-business services for the firm. He served in the Navy as a destroyer officer during the Korean War.

He was a former chairman of the National Committee for Citizens in Education and was a board member of Pennsylvania Hospital, the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic and the Greater Philadelphia Partnership. He also was a member of the finance committee at Germantown Friends School.

In Washington he was a founding member of the Friends of Change in Urban Schools and Meridian Public Charter School.

Mr. Rappaport is survived by his wife of 53 years, Susan; daughters Laura, Nina and Julie, and five grandchildren.

A memorial service is being planned. - WF

 

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