Sep 10, 2008 11:05 pm US/Eastern
Rudy Crew Tells CBS4 "I'd Do It All Again"
"We Needed To Part Company," Crew Said
Click Here To Read Jim DeFede's Column On Crew's Buyout
Watch The Entire Exclusive Interview With Crew In The Video Player
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
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Rudy Crew, Miami-Dade school superintendent
CBS
The Miami-Dade school board voted 5 to 3 on Wednesday to give Superintendent Rudy Crew a severance package worth roughly $368,000.
After the settlement, in an exclusive interview with
CBS4 Peter D'Oench, Crew told him: "I'd do it all over again. This is a very political board, and I'm not willing to play that level of politics. We needed to part company. I'll have another day for analysis, but not today."
Crew's $700,000 contract had one year and one month left on it before it expires in 2010.
The 5-3 vote came after heated arguments by opponents of Crew, who would have preferred to see the superintendent fired for cause and paid nothing.
Ana Rivas Logan, one member said "Board members at the forefront of this have been called in no uncertain terms 'the Cuban Mafia', and I would like to clear the air that I was born in Nicaragua."
Those voting in favor of the agreement Board Chairman Augustin Barrera, Wilbert "Tee" Holloway, Solomon Stinson, Martin Karp and Perla Hantman.
Those opposing the deal were Ana Rivas Logan, Marta Perez and Renier Diaz de la Portilla.
Regardless of the outcome,
CBS4 Reporter Michael Williams learned there are divisions among board members, though it did have the five votes to allow a payout.
"The fact is that it's unfair," said Dr. Wilbert Holloway, who supported Crew, adding, "But we've got to move forward." He added, "Do we move forward as victims or do we move forward collectively."
Despite all the animosity, Crew says he has no hard feelings.
"I wish everybody a good school year," he said.
The school board had recently hired a special counsel, retired county attorney Murray Greenberg, to look into the terms of Dr. Crew's contract.
Crew is still proud of his accomplishments."I do feel as though an awful lot was done on behalf of children," he said. This has been a really good set of years, as far as student performance."
Incoming superintendent Alberto Carvalho now has to figure out how to mend a budget that's in the red and a school system with many needs.
"That's for the new person walking in, and the board to figure out," said Crew.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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