Governor John Kitzhaber’s choice to hire Rudy Crew as Oregon’s first chief education officer was a bold one. The position is intended to help fulfill Kitzhaber’s goal to improve Oregon’s 67 percent high school graduation rate and integrate public schools from kindergarten through college, and Crew certainly has the credentials for the job. @@http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2012/05/governor_picks_former_nyc_scho.html@@
Crew once hailed as a leader in national education and infamous for a controversial career, and led major reforms in New York City, Miami and Tacoma, Wash. before being forced to resign from all three positions.
In honor of National Library Week, Crew made an appearance at the Eugene Public Library last Wednesday to speak about his job overseeing Oregon public education from kindergarten to college preparation and respond to criticism.
“I would say I do push hard. I have been guilty of forcing the system sometimes when others would have liked me to be more gentle,” Crew said. “But I do think of this as being an agenda that is partly passion driven and I am passionate about this. I don’t think you have time to waste somebody else’s child’s life.”
In typical fashion since his appointment in June 2012, Crew has pushed hard in Oregon. Last August, many schools came under Crew’s criticism for aiming too low in their plans to improve third grade reading test scores and graduation rates. @@http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2012/08/oregon_school_officials_set_lo.html@@
After his experience in previous jobs, Crew said he believes that schools have to improve more quickly.

“What we have to do is to actually do this faster,” Crew said. “It’s hard to do it in Oregon because it’s a state that really enjoys this local control so I can’t drive it like I could in New York and Miami and just go somewhere and tell people this is what I want them to do. It doesn’t work that way here.”

One of the biggest problems Oregon education currently faces is the lack of funding, Crew said. This can lead to teachers being laid off and less pay raises. The lack of money in the system also affects universities. Crew’s goal is to encourage a college-going culture in schools and attract more faculty at universities. Accomplishing that is largely a matter of money, he said.

“Part of it is when we’re talking about this college and career going pipeline is really to put more money into preparation for students for college, put more money into Oregon scholarships for young people so they can go,” Crew said. “And equally important is getting them ready to be able to go.”

Crew’s contract is three years long. To accomplish the ambitious goals set for the Oregon education system, he intends to keep pushing hard to change the system in that short amount of time.

“You have to take a job like this with the full expectation you’ll rarely see it all the way through. It may be a bumpy ride, and you get to do the first five miles of it and after that it’s someone else’s to do,” Crew said. “And I’m pretty good at that first five miles.”