17 Facts About Rudy Crew

Rudy Crew described John Crew as "second cousin, a former superintendent of the Baltimore schools," and his mentor.

Rudy Crew was born on September 10,1950, in Poughkeepsie, New York His mother died when he was two years old; his father, Eugene, a jazz trumpeter and night watchman, raised him.

Rudy Crew was the first male in his family to attend college, and he was among the African-American students that helped integrate Babson College as undergraduates.

Rudy Crew began his career as a school administrator in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Rudy Crew worked in administrative positions in Boston, Massachusetts and was the assistant superintendent and superintendent of schools in Sacramento, California, holding the latter position from 1988 to 1993.

Rudy Crew left to lead the school system at Tacoma, Washington, where test scores improved during his tenure, drawing the attention of the New York City Board of Education, which had had six chancellors in ten years.

The Abt report concluded that Tacoma's 1995 increase in test scores was most likely a result of efforts to increase student test-taking skills, but Tacoma school officials believe the short-term gains were a result of Rudy Crew leaving for New York causing a setback in continued improvement.

However, in New York, reforms initiated during Rudy Crew's tenure have been credited with playing a role in the continually improving test scores that his successors have achieved.

Rudy Crew was later blamed for organizing efforts to remove independent oversight and engaging in a campaign to have Stancik removed by accusing him of exaggerating his reports saying they were overly dramatic and adversely affected the school system.

In 2004, Rudy Crew took over as Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the nation's fourth-largest school district, where his reported $400,000 salary made him the highest-paid superintendent in the country.

In 2005 and in 2007 Rudy Crew's name was floated as a potential superintendent of District of Columbia Public Schools.

Rudy Crew's initiatives were said to have led the District to be viewed nationally as a model of success with the secondary-school reform program being credited with Miami's graduation-rate boost.

Rudy Crew's critics pointed to an increase in "F" schools during 2007 that was actually a statewide phenomenon caused by a change in the school grading formula.

The Greater-Miami Chamber of Commerce stated that Rudy Crew's success was reflected in the District's performance on the FCAT, which continues a trend that adds up to significant improvement over the last five years.

At a June 2008 Miami-Dade County school board meeting, Rudy Crew said the district had overspent millions of dollars during the past two years because it had hired more teachers than budgeted, lost state funding, and encountered rising costs.

School Board member Renier Diaz De La Portilla called for Rudy Crew's ouster, criticizing the way he has managed the schools' budget.

One year into his three-year commitment with the state, Rudy Crew resigned as Chief Education Officer when he accepted the position to lead Medgar Evers College, City University of New York, in Brooklyn.