The writing's on the blackboard. Rudy Crew's a goner.

The Dollar Principal's surprise election to the Miami-Dade School Board has become a symbol of voters' frustration with the superintendent's tin ear, thin skin and oversized ego. And it's a shame, really, because Crew has good ideas on education reform.

But he has been a not-so-good steward of the public's money.

Retired middle-school principal Larry Feldman's populist campaign, backed by more than $90,000 from the teachers' union, signals a mind change on a board that has consistently voted 5-4 to protect the superintendent. Feldman replaces a Crew backer.

On Thursday, the board agreed to hire Murray Greenberg, a retired attorney for Miami-Dade County government, to figure out grounds for dismissal in the superintendent's contract.

CHANGE OF HEART

Until recently, I argued it would be unfair to fire Crew because he has not been derelict in his duty. Then he decided that a meeting called to look into the almost $300 million hole in this year's budget wasn't worth attending.

Crew is ready to go -- with or without legal action. He's had four years of work in the nation's fourth-largest school district, about a year more than the average for big-city superintendents.

The problem has been Crew's refusal to be up front with board members when they have pressed for answers on the budget. He can't blame the governor or the Legislature for Miami-Dade schools' financial mess. Tallahassee, facing dwindling tax revenue in a tanking economy, cut about $74 million from the district's budget.

Where did the rest of the losses come from? The head spins.

In February, a state audit uncovered that the district paid $27.8 million in overtime during the last fiscal year and didn't bother to properly document the spending.

In April, we learned that district officials didn't bother to budget for a $36 million jump in healthcare benefits for teachers and other employees. Teachers balked at having their meager raises eaten up by insurance costs. So Crew gave in, but then he went after their salary increases pegged for this year.

It's been a drama ever since. And for good reason.

In June, the board learned, for the first time, that the district was ending the fiscal year $66 million in the red -- due, in part, to a $22 million gaffe in which the district missed out on state money by misclassifying special-needs students. Last week, Crew floated the outrageous idea of ending bilingual programs to cover losses if needed -- this in a district that's a national model in a city that bills itself a Gateway to the Americas.

And he hit the board with another surprise: The rainy-day fund, raided two years in a row, would be depleted by $22 million more. This leaves only $4.6 million, when a district this size should have at least $150 million on hand.

Budget officials say they have a plan to raise the fund to about

$32 million, but how can they be trusted to do so after so many screw-ups?

MISSING AGAIN

On Thursday, Crew again was missing in action. He snubbed the board's Innovation, Efficiency and Government Relations Committee, which was looking into how to plug that $300 million hole. And it's expected the district will face more than $200 million in losses next year.

Crew isn't responsible for a lousy economy, for rising food and gasoline costs that affect the budget or for dipping tax revenues. But he should be held accountable for lax oversight and misspending.

He has signaled he's ready to go. And on Monday, that could happen. Godspeed.

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