Board showdown set over Crew's job (Miami Herald)

Is this a distraction from the real issues facing the local public schools? What if similar attention was placed on diminishing dropout and improving graduation rates across the district, particularly in the most marginalized schools and communities? -Dr. Louie F. Rodriguez


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www.miamiherald.com
Posted on Fri, Jul. 25, 2008
Board showdown set over Crew's job
BY KATHLEEN McGRORY
Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Rudy Crew may be facing the fight of his career as tensions between him and School Board members appeared to escalate this week.
One board member announced plans Friday to legally challenge whether Crew has lived up to the terms of his contract -- creating a road map to potentially fire Crew from his $315,000-a-year job.
Board member Renier Diaz de la Portilla -- whose unhappiness with Crew is well known -- said he was preparing to present the board's attorney with a list of grievances over the embattled schools chief's performance and ask if they constitute legal grounds for termination.
Board Vice Chairwoman Perla Tabares Hantman, anticipating legal fireworks, filed a motion that the district should hire a ''special counsel'' to advise the board on any action on Crew's contract.
The independent actions of the two board members appear to set the stage for a showdown at a Wednesday budget workshop that all parties are set to attend and, more importantly, for a possible vote to fire Crew as early as the next board meeting on Aug. 4.
Crew's contract runs through 2010, but the board can fire him at any time. Without legal grounds, however, the district will have to pay Crew more than $700,000.
Diaz de la Portilla, an attorney, says the board would be justified to dismiss the superintendent. State law lists possible grounds as misconduct, incompetency, gross insubordination and willful neglect of duties.
Diaz de la Portilla pointed to Crew's ''mismanagement'' of the district's $6 billion budget, his need to dip into the district's rainy-day fund to balance the budget and the 2006 coverup of a sex scandal at Northwestern Senior High.
''It was only a matter of time before this happened,'' Diaz de la Portilla said. ``He's not above scrutiny.''
Diaz de la Portilla will ask his colleagues to vote on the matter at the August meeting.
How the board members will vote is still up in the air, but The Miami Herald on Friday polled eight of the nine.
• Three -- Diaz de la Portilla, Ana Rivas Logan and Marta Pérez -- said they would support terminating Crew's contract at the meeting.
• Three -- Wilbert ''Tee'' Holloway, Evelyn Greer and Martin Karp -- said they would not vote to terminate.
• Two -- Hantman and Chairman Agustín Barrera -- declined to say how they would vote. Solomon Stinson could not be reached for comment.
Logan, for her part, has been vocal for more than a year about firing Crew.
''I don't see how I can work with an employee if I have no faith in what that person says,'' Logan said.
Holloway called Diaz de la Portilla's proposal ''totally inappropriate and unfair'' and accused him of election-time grandstanding.
Diaz de la Portilla has said his proposal has nothing to do with his bid for reelection. He is running against former television journalist Angel Zayón, who wants to oust the superintendent.
Hantman expressed concerns, too, with Diaz de la Portilla's proposal.
''I think this is an action that should be done in a more conscientious manner,'' Hantman said.
While Diaz de la Portilla may not have the votes yet to fire Crew, many board members agreed the situation has come to a boil. Some said they believe the superintendent's days are numbered.
''He doesn't seem interested,'' said Pérez, who has battled Crew publicly. ``I don't think he's engaged in this community.''
Crew declined requests to be interviewed for this article. But district spokeswoman Tammy Reed said that Crew planned ``to continue being the superintendent.''
''Right now, he's focused on his agenda, which is about the children,'' Reed said.
The past six months have been especially trying for the embattled schools chief.
With state revenue streams dwindling, legislators in Tallahassee have dramatically reduced funding to schools. Food and fuel prices have risen.
All the while, the district's budget crisis remains unresolved -- with the district still struggling to balance this year's budget; they already had to dip into reserves for last year's.
The chasm between teachers and administrators has continued to grow. And Crew can no longer count on a solid School Board majority.
To Crew's credit, scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test and school grades from the state have risen steadily under his leadership.
The district is also a finalist for the prestigious Broad Prize for Urban Education.
Still, Crew has been unable to manage his relationship with the board.
Last year things got so bad, Pérez sued Crew for failing to include several of her proposals on an agenda. Although Pérez lost the suit, Crew had to turn over several public records he had failed to deliver.
Crew himself has expressed frustrations with the board.
At one point, he said he was already contemplating his next move.
It may come soon.
Experts say the average life span of a superintendent in a large, urban school district is about three years. Crew recently finished up the fourth year of his contract.
''Running a large school district is incredibly difficult,'' said Bill Montford, who runs the Florida Association of District School Superintendents. ``There are extraordinary pressures, not only on the state level, but on the national level.''
Board member Greer, who usually supports Crew, said Miami-Dade is no exception.
''This is certainly an incredibly difficult political environment for anyone -- board members, superintendents and staff -- to function effectively,'' she said.
In addition to the talks about Crew's contract, board members in August will consider another intriguing option: holding a countywide referendum and moving to an elected superintendency.
Logan is bringing the idea, which was first proposed by board candidate Zayón.
If approved, the measure would allow county residents to decide if the next superintendent should be appointed, like Crew, or elected by county residents.
Regardless, elections could bring a new majority.
Besides Zayón, candidates Shawn Beightol and Larry Feldman have said they believe Crew should go.
Still, Barrera, who is pleased with Crew's performance, said he believed the efforts to oust him had little to do with the superintendent's recent performance.
''There's a group of people that have wanted the superintendent out for a long time, and they've seen the first true crack by which to attack him,'' Barrera said. ``This is about politics, not the superintendent.''