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Both of Miami's alternative newspapers seem to miss the point. It's not Dr. Crew's boss -- the entire Miami-Dade school board -- asking him questions, but rather a single school board member whose intentions are questionable. What the superintendent and the board chair are insisting is that the sole board member follows the rules, which state that requests requiring additional work of the school district's staff be approved by the entire board. The other point that's lost is that every single board member has at least one board aide, ostensibly to allow him or her to gather the information he or she needs. Those aides have been offered full access to any documents that their boss wants to compile. Should the public really have to pay twice for that information-gathering capacity?

Joseph:

What are this sole board member's questionable intentions? And why don't you name who the sole board member is? And why don't you inform our readers that Crew employed you as the school district spokesman? Regardless of this board member's "questionable intentions," it is Crew's job to provide information to all of his bosses, even those who are critical of his performance. Barrera's ploy to enforce an archaic board rule that stifles transparency in government is unacceptable and undemocratic. And if your assertion that school board aides are offered full access to information were true then the board member you refer to would not have needed to sue the school district to get information, that by state law, is supposed to be available to the public.

Did he say "transparency"? As in letting the tax payers know how much monies Pillsbury Doe Boy and "some" of the board members are stealing?

Funny how they talk like their doing us a favor by robing our children of monies and education.

Hey Jose! I got a couple of questions for you big boy!

1) If I provide a 400% increase in "F" schools, steal from the children and cover-up rapes...can I have a high paying job with the Rudy too? It would make me a team player wouldn't it! Fit right in, yes sireee....

2) Can we scam monies from projects like low-income housing? Have friends who husbands and sons build low-income housing and will throw us a bone or two. We can also sell them our minimum value properties for top dollar. We can even get our unqualified wives and friends high paying job's too...just like you guys do! How cool is that!!!

3) Is Bishop Curry still "toiling the soil" with his Bentley?

4) Will Representative Meek's continue support the suppression of the minority like he never fought against it?

5) My friends son is very much like Rudy's with a criminal history of violence. Can we get him a job with a contractor then give the contractor a really high paying "No Bid" contract too?

LOL

Given that I eschewed a psuedonym like CrewRulez, that my name appeared in the news at least weekly for two years and that I stated something truthful about M-DCPS, I didn't suspect that anyone would draw a blank on my identity. I didn't call out the board member because I don't subscribe to the politics of personal attack so prevalent in Miami-Dade. But that person's identity is obvious from who is suing whom. But your questions are a red herring, sort of like me asking why RipTide 2.0 hasn't mentioned the fine performance of the district's students on FCAT writing in all its coverage of the district. The identity of the board member simply doesn't matter. By law, the superintendent -- whether it's Crew or someone else -- has one boss. That's the entire school board, not any member or group of members less than a majority. That's the point of the rule prohibiting a single board member from burdening district staff with requests that the board as a corporate whole has no interest in. For anyone who has worked in SBAB, the idea that staff isn't responding to board members -- even critics -- all the time is laughable. And I know with certainty that the board member I mentioned has had the opportunity for an aide to review the records sought; that offer was rejected. Public records reflect both, if you'd bother to check. I look forward to your reply to Larry C asking him why he doesn't mention that Florida significantly changed the school grading requirements, making it meaningless to talk about percentage growth in F schools, and asking him why he doesn't mention that the vendor had a longstanding contract well before hiring anyone with the Crew surname and was only getting a renewal.

Joseph,

1) The vendor Rudy Crew's son works for was offered a "NO BID" contract by Dr. Crew which is against the law.

2) Considering Rudy's son has a criminal record for violent crimes, he has no business working for schools or its vendors.

3) While the previous school grading requirements where in effect, Rudy Crew brought us a 400% increase in "F" schools. Cant wait to see the decline with the new grading system.

4) Miami, like Tacoma and New York finds itself with declining grades and test scores under Rudy Crew which is why he is referred to as an educational fraud by the experts.

5) Couldn't help but notice that you failed to comment on the multiple cover-up's of rapes by Rudy Crew's and his administration's in Miami and New York. Only despicable and vile men like yourselves condone the violation of children for personal benefit.

Bottom line is I feel sorry for you and Rudy Crew because you are very sick people. Your pathological and probably pedophiles based on the history of stealing from and harming children as documented.

Not very impressive for men who are supposed to protect women and children instead of yourselves.

Why don't you two take a job in DC or San Fransisco's schools systems so we can be rid of your deceit, fraud and violations of our children.

Oh thats right, they don't want Rudy or you for the above reasons.

LC

Larry, your vitriol is full of what passes for political discourse in Miami -- heavy on innunendo and attempted character assassination, very short on facts.

1) The contract was approved as a sole source contract by the district's Professional Services Contract Committee, which considers such deals independently and publicly, and by the School Board. Sole source contracts are, in fact, common when it comes to instructional materials. One can Google the company's name and Miami to learn quickly that it was doing business with the district at least as far back as 2003-04, before Crew arrived.

2) The number of F schools in Miami-Dade fell to an all-time low of 5 in 2006 under Crew, also when the percentage of A schools reached more than half for the first time and the percentage of students scoring as proficient readers reached more than half for the first time. The number of F schools across FL rose in 2007 when the state moved the goal line. Even with higher passing scores required on FCAT reading and math, Miami-Dade's 2007 results far surpassed 2004, the year before Crew arrived. Its 2008 writing scores -- the only ones out so far -- continue to top the state average and rose in 8th grade. You can confirm all of this at the FL Dept of Ed's web site.

3) If multiple is two, then multiple cover-ups have been alleged at schools in Miami and NY, the nation's fourth-largest and largest school systems enrolling almost 1.5 million students. One student attacked is too many -- whether inside a school or in the neighborhood.

4) Every employee of the school district has a criminal background check run prior to employment. Why don't you give us your full name and SS#, Larry, so that we can afford you the same level of scrutiny?