FILE – In this Monday, April 28, 2008 file photo, recently-appointed Massachusetts Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester greets members of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education at a special meeting in Worcester, Mass. Chester, who had been battling cancer, died Monday night, June 26, 2017. He was 65. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Mitchell Chester has died.
Jacqueline Reis, a spokeswoman for the state education department, confirmed via email Tuesday that Chester died Monday night. He was 65.
Chester had been battling cancer. He wrote in his June 16 weekly update on the department’s website that he had temporarily cut back his schedule this spring to undergo medical treatment.
Gov. Charlie Baker, in a statement, called Chester a dedicated educator and public servant whose leadership improved the lives of public school students in Massachusetts.
Chester became commissioner in 2008 after serving in the Ohio Department of Education. He began his career as a teacher in Connecticut and also worked in the Philadelphia school system.
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