Governor picks former NYC schools chief Rudy Crew to become Oregon's first 'chief education officer' | OregonLive.com:

Governor picks former NYC schools chief Rudy Crew to become Oregon's first 'chief education officer'

Published: Tuesday, May 29, 2012, 5:20 PM Updated: Tuesday, May 29, 2012, 5:23 PM

Thomas Boyd/ The OregonianRudy Crew

Gov. John Kitzhaber has selected Rudy Crew, who has led the school districts in New York City, Miami, Sacramento and Tacoma, to become Oregon's first "chief education officer," the governor announced today.

Crew, now 61 and an education professor at the University of Southern California, said he is eager to take the job, even though it will require him to fight turf wars and battle inertia in an effort to remake the education landscape in Oregon.

His task is to make education in Oregon more efficient, innovative and seamless from preschool through college to dramatically improve the results. The goal is that, by 2025, all students will graduate from high school and 80 percent will earn college credentials -- half bachelor's degrees and the other half a two-year degree or industry certification from a community college.

Crew is best known for his five years heading the nation's largest school district, from 1995 to