Saying he perceived his annual evaluation to be an "injustice" after the School Committee gave him a "needs improvement" rating earlier this fall, Superintendent Dr. Barry Rabinovitch announced his retirement, effective July 31, 2013, on Wednesday.

"As I near the end of my career in public education, I feel that I deserve the respect and fairness that a fair and unbiased evaluation is intended to provide," said Rabinovitch, reading from a prepared "rebuttal" during Wednesday's School Committee meeting. "I believe that the overriding goal of this evaluation was to deny me a raise. The evidence is the combined score of 64.45, and the lack of rounding that was used in the calculation."

Rabinovitch, who has been superintendent for four years, is evaluated annually on his progress in meeting goals set in the prior year, and on his performance in “general responsibilities." Each School Committee member completes an evaluation, and the scores are averaged.

In October, School Committee members said they recognized the difficulties the superintendent faces due to dwindling resources, but could not ignore the lack of improvement in student performance over the past year.

Rabinovitch's overall score of 64.45 put him less than a point away from the 65-to-79-point "satisfactory" rating, which would have earned him a $3,000 raise. He was rated "very good" last year, earning him a $4,000 raise, and "satisfactory" in 2010.

The most recent annual town report, for fiscal year 2011, lists Rabinovitch's earnings as more than $160,500. His three-year contract was renewed in June, 2011, with a base salary of $147,000. (His base salary was not raised when his contract was renewed.)

The evaluation came just weeks after the state released last spring's MCAS scores, which revealed that Wareham students continue to fall behind state averages, and according to the state, the district is not improving scores fast enough.

"To the average citizen, I make a lot of money," Rabinovitch said, "but I chose to live and work in this community because of the students and community. What you have been paying me for is my 41 years of experience in public education, my work ethic, my abilities to do more with less, and my PhD in Educational Leadership from Boston College."

Members of the School Committee did not immediately respond to the superintendent's announcement.

After the meeting was adjourned, School Committee member Cliff Sylvia stood up and said simply: "Bad day."

Rabinovitch has worked in the district for 21 years, also serving as principal of Wareham Middle School and as assistant superintendent.

The superintendent noted that he has been at his maximum retirement percentage for the past six years, but has continued to work "because of my commitment to this community, staff and students."

Acknowledging that the past year had its challenges, Rabinovitch listed nearly two dozen "successes" in the rebuttal to his evaluation, which included implementing a new English curriculum, organizing an iPad "pilot" program, redesigning the Wareham Cooperative School program, and working with town leaders to garner support for budget initiatives — including the Proposition 2½ override and debt exclusion tax increases, which ultimately failed at the ballot in July.

"I will look back fondly [on] my time in Wareham," Rabinovitch said. "This community is caring, kind, and resourceful. The politics are not easy, but most of our leaders are trying to be respectful to each other. I am not saying farewell because I have much work to do until I leave for retirement."

To read Superintendent Dr. Barry Rabinovitch's rebuttal of his evaluation, click the link below this story.