By:Doug Miller
Greenberg and his family attended the special Board of Education meeting Tuesday evening, and he said he was eager to begin work. "Throughout my candidacy, I was impressed at the pride and love I saw people showed in their Long Beach schools," he said. "I invite the public to partner with me to continue the great work done here by Dr. Friedman."
Greenberg is currently a deputy superintendent of the Plainview-Old Bethpage school district, where his responsibilities include personnel, pupil services and special education, legal issues, board policy, technology, transportation and safety. Previously he was a deputy superintendent in Valley Stream.
"Our new super is super," said Board of Education President Steven Weitz. "We're very pleased to have landed such a well-qualified educator with small-city school district experience."
Greenberg began his career as a New York City special-education teacher in 1968. In 1975 he became an assistant principal, and a year later he was appointed chairman of the Committee on the Handicapped for the borough of Staten Island. He then moved to the New York City Board of Education headquarters, where he served as director of all the committees on the handicapped.
He remained with the city's Board of Education until 1981, when he joined the Hicksville school district as director of special education and pupil personnel services. While there he worked for a time with Friedman.
In 1989, Greenberg was appointed an assistant superintendent in White Plains. While there he oversaw the introduction of "inclusion classes" and established liaisons with private and municipal agencies and organizations. He traveled extensively while representing the district in its affiliation with the National Alliance to Restructure Education.
"I worked with Bob in Hicksville for a period of time," said Friedman. "He was brought in to fix their special education, which was a major problem in the district. I remember him as not only resolving the issues effectively, but winning the confidence and trust of the parents and staff as well. He was a really positive force there."
Greenberg graduated from Queens College in 1968, and earned a master's degree in special education from Brooklyn College and a doctorate from Columbia University's Teachers College in 1989.
He is an adjunct professor at SUNY-Stony Brook, where he teaches school law and school district administration. He is married, has three adult children and lives in Rockville Centre. And Greenberg claims he will again be a main character at the Lido Golf Course this summer.
