Man who spurned Boston schools post now resigns in N.Y.

Invited to Albany prior to upheaval

Manuel J. Rivera has an unnamed job in the private sector.

Twenty months after stunning Boston by backing out of the superintendent of schools post, Manuel J. Rivera has quit as deputy secretary of education for the State of New York.

In September 2006, Boston officials announced the selection of Rivera as the head of schools after nearly a year of searching. He would have been Boston's first Hispanic superintendent, but he shocked Mayor Thomas M. Menino the following January when he wrote a letter to the School Committee announcing he would instead take a job in Albany as deputy schools chief for New York under Eliot Spitzer, who was then governor. Rivera has now decided to leave Albany to take an unnamed job in the private sector.

"Manny has accomplished so much for the State of New York over the past 18 months," Spitzer's successor, Governor David A. Paterson, said in a statement yesterday. "In his role as deputy secretary of education, Manny worked tirelessly to demand greater education accountability and provide meaningful reform.

"In the process, he oversaw the greatest infusion of education aid that our state has ever seen. Manny has had a long and successful career serving New York State's students. After devoting so much of his life to public service, I wish him the best in his future endeavors in the private sector."

In Albany, Rivera, 56, was the governor's senior eduation policy adviser, credited with implementing several school reform measures, the governor's office said yesterday.

"The opportunity to serve as the senior education policy adviser in two executive administrations has been a tremendous experience," Rivera said in a statement yesterday.

"I am especially appreciative of Governor Paterson's support and commitment to improving public schools and to the children of this state. I intend to continue to serve students in New York and nationally in a new role within the private sector."

Rivera, like many other Spitzer appointees, had to reapply for his job when Spitzer resigned in a sex scandal earlier this year.

Errol Cockfield, a spokesman for Paterson, said Rivera was asked to stay on to help smooth the transition to a new deputy secretary of education and has agreed to do so before moving to the private sector.

Rivera would have been welcome to keep his job, Cockfield said.

Duffy Palmer, New York's assistant deputy secretary of education, will take Rivera's place on an interim basis, the governor's office said.

Before negotiating with Boston, Rivera was school superintendent in Rochester, N.Y. The American Association of School Administrators had named him 2006 National Superintendent of the Year.

Calls to Rivera seeking comment were not returned yesterday. Menino's office had no comment on the development.

Tracy Jan and Gary Witherspoon of the Globe staff contributed to this report. John Guilfoil can be reached at jguilfoil@globe.com.