I posted a few days ago about a panel discussion in New York City where Paul Vallas made this startling statement: “We’re losing the communications game because we don’t have a good message to communicate.”
He spoke bluntly of the “testing industrial complex.”
Here Valerie Strauss briefly reviews Vallas’ role in Chicago, Philadelphia, and New Orleans, where testing and privatization were key elements of his reforms. It is difficult to see any of those districts today as a template for reform of the nation’s schools. Chicago is in dire straits, As is Philadelphia, and the only thing sustaining the myth of New Orleans is a massive disinformation campaign by the funders of privatization.
I know Paul Vallas and there was a time about a decade ago when I thought he was the most promising leader of school reform in the nation. I was impressed by his energy and his quick intellect.
Because he is so smart, I hold out hope that he might be the first of the “reform” A-team to see the light, as I did around 2005.
By his remarks at the forum cited in the links, he recognizes that teacher evaluation by formula is a mess. From his Philadelphia experience he may have learned that privatization is no solution. He inaugurated the nation’s most extensive experiment in privatization a decade ago, and it failed.
Now Vallas has another chance to get it right, this time in Bridgeport, Connecticut, a small district compared to his previous assignments.
Will he lead the way away from the failed status quo? Will he be first to renounce the failed status quo?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
We can hope that intellectual honesty will prevail. Must our schools improve? Of course. But this is not the course. I would never fault Paul Vallas or anyone for trying a different course. I would only fault them if they stay the course after they no it is a failed one.
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That’s the difference between sane and insane… it’s insane to try something over and over while expecting different results.. I believe it was Einstein who stated this?
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Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
-Albert Einstein
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Vallas knew about a failed one in Chicago and quietly pressured principals to implement it anyway! ! !
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We cannot let our hopes mislead us Diane.
Deal surfaces to give Bridgeport elementary school to Hartford charter school company – Wait, What?
http://wp.me/p3nQdj-ZB
I think Peggy Robertson shows us the attitude we must take at this critical time.
Peg with Pen: The Greatest Fight of Our Lives
http://wp.me/p3nQdj-YE
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Philaken, Thank you for pointing out the next move that Vallas is taking after his “speech.” Those who are not regular readers of “Wait, What?” can search for a history of what this model has done to a school in Hartford, which Jonathan Pelto has fastidiously documented. Additional thanks for pointing us to Peg with Pen. I believe that she is very right about not letting up for a moment.
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What’s homeboy think of the common core? If he is not a big fan of hyper-complexity and things that are hard to understand, how does this new program rate?
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I worked under Paul Vallas in Phila as a teacher. After the his predecessor, anyone would be a breath of fresh air. Two good things that I remember about him were that he gave music and art teachers 500 dollars each for educational materials and supplies. That was fabulous because when it came to ordering books and materials, the arts almost always got nothing. He had a hotline where teachers, parents and administrators could call anonymously to complain of a probem. I heard that on some days he received at least 1000 calls and e-mails.
I don’t know much else about him, but I do remember that the teachers were not hunted down as witches during his reign.
Judy
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Out of desperation he is throwing teachers a bone. He also made a recent comment about his teachers not having so much freedom next year. Right, under his testing and bullying regime there has been so much freedom. He is a master bs spinmeister. It’s all about Paul and how fabulous he is. He would have to admit to being a failure to turn course now. That will never happen EVER!
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I agree. He is a master bs spinmaster.
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Diane, as always, I admire your faith in human beings to grow and change.
But why should reformyists like Vallas be given second and third and fourth chances to lead public school systems when they seem so eager to fire “underperforming” teachers and close “underperforming” schools?
We hear so much from these people about “accountability.” Well, where is theirs?
Why is Vallas allowed to leave a trail of destruction across Philadelphia, New Orleans, Chicago, and now Connecticut, and emerge unscathed?
Why is Michelle Rhee allowed to leave the Washington, D.C. schools, according to John Merrow, “worse than ever,” with no consequence to her credibility?
Why is Arne Duncan allowed to wreak havoc in Chicago, and then ascend to the highest eduction office in the land?
Why is Joel Klein allowed to leave the NYC schools flailing compared to other major cities, yet is now called upon as a national expert on “reform”?
Why was Jean-Claude Brizard’s failure in Rochester immediately followed by his failure in Chicago?
Why are Jeb! Bush’s “Chiefs For Change” – Tony Bennett (FL), Hanna Skandera (NM), Chris Cerf (NJ), John White (LA), Steven Bowen (ME), Janet Barresi (OK), Deborah Gist (RI), and Kevin Huffman (TN) – allowed to continue their campaign of failure across the country?
http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2013/05/no-one-trusts-jebs-chiefs-for-change.html
All drone on endlessly about “accountability,” yet none are ever held accountable for their many, many failures. From my perspective, if they are so eager to fire teachers and close schools in the name of “accountability,” they should be held to those same standards themselves.
Oh, and Happy Mothers Day!
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So, so, so TRUE!!!
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Great post JJ…will send to many. Thank you.
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Yes, Jersey Jazzman, you are right. So many reformers fail upward after ruining the lives of other people.
I am not saying it will happen, but wouldn’t it be great if someone with Vallas’ reputation saw the light and turned against the movement? Wouldn’t that be a beautiful coda to this crazy era?
Ever hopeful,
Diane
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Diane,
I admire you for being “ever hopeful” and yet you refer to “someone with Vallas’ reputation” (as though it is a good one) as being able to lead the way against what he has created. This so-called “reputation” is what allows him to “get away” with so much of the damage that he does. I have seen it firsthand in Bridgeport where the politicians, charter school backers, etc. continue to reference his reputation as why we NEED him to destroy our schools. During his reign of terror, no one is allowed to speak out so very little of what is truly happening is made public. His latest action speaks volumes.
In deepest respect and in true admiration for your ability to hope. (I could use a little more of that capacity myself.)
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“So many reformers fail upward after ruining the lives of other people.”
That is such a fitting description of the crony capitalism that has been dominating our nation.
Yes, it would be really wonderful if Vallas did “see the light” and try to redeem himself, because more high-profile converts is most probably what is needed for the general public to understand what has been happening in our country and demand that this course be reversed.
And you are right to have hope. I am glad to be reminded of this on Mother’s Day. Hope was actually the last gift my Mom ever gave to me, but I misplace it all too often. This day is not one that I have been able to see in a positive light since her untimely death, but I will try to honor my Mom by retrieving my capacity to hope. Thank you for this reminder, Diane.
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I thought the same thing. Shouldn’t his evaluation be “ineffective”. He obviously is no “turn around” expert. Shouldn’t he be forced out of the profession for being an utter failure? I guess he is “highly effective” at corporatizing schools.
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Once again NJ Jazzman shows perfect pitch.
All the reformers will soon be in need of reinvention. Don’t fall for it.
Be prepared for; we never said the teacher evaluation system was .,,,
The are no sliver bullets….,
We can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the ….
We always knew there would be problems with The common core tests…
The tests will get better….
Andy favorite, which a Chris Cerf staffer actually SAID, “we hope the science gets better”…
I say, give no quarter to these deformers.
Jazzman is correct here!
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Gotta go with the Jazzman. Vallas is self-promoter, and has done a good job at it. By the time people realize what’s really going on behind the curtain, he has already grabbed his bonuses and run. He left Philly with a $73 million deficit and didn’t think twice about collecting.
Vallas only has his finger in the wind to see which way the wind is blowing and is making a pathetic attempt to seem reasonable. Don’t believe it for a minute.
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In 1995 Daley, Vallas and Obama started the destruction of the Chicago Public Schools. Duncan came after Vallas in the destruction mode. How is it that the losers always go to the top? We are a twisted country and had better rapidly change or we are finished with this just like every other civilization which in the past tried this path to destruction before. Vallas destroyed Chicago, Philadelphia then doing it to Louisiana. Not bad, if you are into destruction which is the opposite of what is supposed to be done with education. How long are we going to be stupid and so self destructive to allow any more of this?
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Wouldn’t that be nice. Yes. When he first came to Chicago he invited me to a dinner–in his honor? I don’t recall. I was full of hope. Although looking at his prior history should have reminded me that his “expertise” was hardly compatible with the job itself. But I welcome all converts.
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I’ve read, “he came from a background of government finance.” Do you know if he had any background in education before Chicago?
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Nope, Vallas has no background in education. He had been the mayor’s budget director in Chicago when the schools went under mayoral control and the mayor selected him to be CEO of the schools. Prior to that, Vallas was the budget director for the state legislature.
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Thanks, good to know. So he’s one of the original breed of non-educator CEOs.
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It will NEVER happen with Vallas. He is only in for the money and the power. Your enlightenment Diane did not follow a reign of terror. Even if he does a good job of pretending to see the light it will not be believed. Vallas owes a huge debt to society.
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Those in Chicago who were the first people subjected to non-educator businessman Paul Vallas’ neo-liberal approach do not have high hopes that he is really trying to redeem himself.
He is the father of high-stakes testing and, when he suddenly came out against standardized tests not long ago, it turned out that he was only against JUST using standardized tests at the end of the year and he advocated for mini versions used every six weeks as formative assessment. http://www.geauxteacher.net/2012/06/remember-paul-vallas.html
I don’t see a requirement for standardized formative assessment written into RTTT yet, but formative assessments that are valid and reliable (aka standardized tests) ARE required for the RTTT- Early Learning Challenge.
That is even worse, in my professional opinion as an Early Childhood Specialist, because we’re talking about subjecting babies to frequent standardized tests –which are very time consuming since they must be administered 1 to 1 with these ages. And this replaces the use of informal and qualitative measures, such as systematic observations and work samplings, so once again, the message to teachers is that they are not trusted and cannot even design their own tests.
The greatest irony in Vallas’ career was actually when he went to Chile to “fix” education, since that is the first place where Milton Friedman’s neo-liberal crony capitalist privatization scheme which passes for education “reform” was instituted. What on earth did he think he was going to do there? The exact opposite of what he has been doing across America for the past two decades? I don’t think he had a clue about how to reverse privatization and bring back free public education to Chile, as the students there have been demanding for years now. No wonder they booted him out of there so fast. Sadly, that suggests how difficult it may be to recover our own free system of public education once it’s fully lost to privatization.
If Vallas really wants to redeem himself, he out to make a concerted effort to figure out how to wrestle the demon that he was so instrumental in unleashing on our nation.
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Vallas sees the scene changing and is merely trying to stay one step ahead as a matter of professional self-preservation.
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Absolutely my CT friend. Perfectly and succinctly stated.
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I suspect the same of Gates and his recent TED talk. It is simply an attempt to shore up their control of the narrative as the “reasonable” ones.
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Linda: I respect and appreciate Diane’s hope for Paul Vallas, but for now—what you and Alan said.
And as a sign that the “scene is changing” and some of the edubullies most responsible for the most serious damage are trying to get ahead of the ‘responsibility curve’ and are seeking plausible [or any other kind of] deniability and cover: Arne Duncan’s recent public comments [4/30/13 at the AERA conference] that there is just too darn much emphasis on high-stakes standardized testing. He should know about over-the-top emphasis on such tests: he is literally, not figuratively, one of the people most responsible for the very thing he claims is deplorable.
But surely such cagebusting world-class education reformers wouldn’t just be mouthing words without heeding what they’re saying? C’mon, mindless partisanship is just so, you know, twentieth century…
😦
Consider just the following two very recent similar pronouncements. A true numbers/stats expert, Eric Hanushek [luminary of the charterite/privatizer movement and its push for mandated high-stakes standardized testing for OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN], commented last month [3/19/13 on the blog BRIDGING DIFFERENCES] that teachers and principals are against being evaluated. Comments by actual teachers demolished this straw man argument. Add to that pearl of wisdom Bill Gates’ [a luminary of something? anything?] recent declaration, just over a minute into his TED talk, that “until recently, over 98% of teachers just got one word of feedback: ‘Satisfactory’” [May 2013]. Again, superbly refuted by, well, just about any teacher that posted online comments.
For the last Gatesism: http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_gates_teachers_need_real_feedback.html?embed=true
So with all due respect for other opinions, I feel that you two are correct that “self-preservation” is the crucial motive here, not a “better education for all.”
Which is why I appreciate your comments.
Keep posting. I, and I am sure many others, will keep reading.
🙂
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In thinking about this “epiphany” Vallas had, I’m inclined to think about doublespeak. Look at the educrats he was speaking with. Coleman? King? What would Vallas have to gain by criticizing the evaluation system these two adore? What Vallas really means, I think, is that while he acknowledges the nightmare of the current behemoth of teacher evaluation plans, what we really need is a STANDARDIZED one for all teachers at all levels and in all subjects. NYSED was “shocked” by the variety and depth of APPR agreements submitted to them (and the Albany law students who were reading them also may have been surprised). Vallas probably is on the frontline of supporting a one-size -fits-all approach To APPR so that corporations can make more money from meaningless tests.
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OK, i am a skeptic, too, but I do have a hope:
Vallas’ periodic revelations have only been expressed in CT and since he returned from Chile, so my hope is that he learned something in Chile about the devastating impact of privatization, and that he is becoming alert to the equally calamitous and irrevocable repercussions from privatizating public education here.
I’m guessing that Vallas is fully aware of the fact that his work in New Orleans did not result in the privatization “miracle” that Duncan, Jindal and White have been claiming.
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Thank you KTA. You and Diane always give me hope. Cosmic, one insight about the big V, it is and always will be all about Paul, the reformy educelebrity superstar.
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Yes, Linda, I’m very aware of Vallas’ narcissism. When he was CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, virtually every week, he called press conferences and was shown on the nightly news on almost every visit he made into communities and at schools. I have never seen anyone use the press as if it was his own private PR firm like Vallas did in Chicago.
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He also likes to feature his puss on every school website. The man is a megalomaniac.
When there were discussions about whether or not to renew his contract in CT, many mentioned the failures in NOLA, Philly and Chicago. He actually stated maybe they aren’t doing well because he isn’t there anymore. He is seriously delusional.
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I suggest you speak to New Orleans Veteran Teachers about Paul Vallas!
>________________________________ > From: Diane Ravitch’s blog >To: libbamcenery@yahoo.com >Sent: Sunday, May 12, 2013 11:35 AM >Subject: [New post] Paul Vallas’ “Nixon-to-China” Moment > > > > WordPress.com >dianerav posted: “I posted a few days ago about a panel discussion in New York City where Paul Vallas made this startling statement: “We’re losing the communications game because we don’t have a good message to communicate.” He spoke bluntly of the “testing industrial c” >
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OK, I know that Vallas is a long shot. Is there anyone else who might be capable of growing a conscience?
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Cosmic Tinker,
I’m thinking, I’m thinking…..
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