NEW YORK SCHOOL LEADER VOWS REFORM

Rudolph Crew, superintendent of schools in Tacoma, Wash., will take the reins of the New York City school system this week.

As New York City's new school chancellor, he faces the monumental task of leading the nation's largest school system at a time of rising violence on the school ground and overcrowded classrooms - all with less money.

After a months-long, politically touchy search for a chancellor, New York's mayor and school board finally arrived at a compromise candidate on Saturday. Dr. Crew accepted the position Sunday.

Crew turned around Tacoma's 32,000-student school system in a year, and earned many critics along the way.

He plans to overhaul special education programs, reduce bilingual education to short-term, intensive English courses, and work with police to curb school violence.

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