Jon Pelto: Copy of Court Decision Ousting Paul Vallas

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1. Linda says:

   June 28, 2013 at 8:28 pm

   CT post editorial:

   It was Vallas’ friend and ally, state Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor, who made it possible. He and the state Board of Education came up with a sham of a program at the University of Connecticut for Vallas to complete in lieu of a legitimate certification. Vallas’ 13-week UConn session did not come close to meeting statutory requirements for a superintendent certificate, but officials approved it anyway.

   A court, however, did not. Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis ruled, properly, that Vallas’ course did not meet the requirements and as such ordered him removed from office.

   This is a failure on multiple fronts. It’s a failure of Mayor Bill Finch and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, both of whom were involved in the school board takeover and are responsible for its shortfall. It’s a failure of the state school board. It’s a failure of the majority on the Bridgeport Board of Education, who pretended a clearly insufficient certification passed muster. But it is not a failure, it must be said, of four local school board members who questioned the deal and now appear prescient.

   Most of all, it is a failure of Stefan Pryor. This is an embarrassment for Bridgeport, and it is Pryor more than anyone who brought this upon the city and its school system, cutting corners and clearing obstacles in obvious violation of the law.

   This is, ultimately, about the children of Bridgeport public schools. And they have been let down, again. The parties who made this happen must be held to account.

   http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Vallas-ruling-just-the-latest-failure-4637077.php?cmpid=twitter

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2. Concerned Educator says:

   June 28, 2013 at 8:34 pm

   Wow. This should give hope to other states with sham Ed administrators. A brave judge is needed in NYC and NYS. Lots of uncredentialed actors there.

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3. Chris says:

   June 28, 2013 at 8:44 pm

   The reformers are not used to having their plans curtailed and they don’t like being thwarted. I predict a nasty form of payback, worked out between these sham education commissioners, the governors, the NCTQ, the ABCTE (alternative certification scam), and the legislatures of many states.

   I would guess quick laws passed to eliminate the need for any kind of certification they don’t oversee or approve. They will probably have some kind of short online certification course and then they can just print out certifications from the nearest printer.

   Having said all that, I applaud the judge and the people of Bridgeport, a lovely city with beautiful New England beaches. The war has begun in earnest.

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4. Sheery says:

   June 28, 2013 at 9:27 pm

   Thank you. Now get rid of RheeformynJohn King , Meryl Tische, Ken Slentz, Ken Wagner, and Kate Gerson. GET RID of hypocrites! Return NY Ed to the people. Not Cuomo,

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5. Ellen Lubic says:

   June 28, 2013 at 10:23 pm

   Sounds similar to Supt. Deasy in LA. Deasy has a questionable doctorate earned ostensibly at the University of Louisville in only a few months with a few units of credit.

   The head of the department there who gave him this gift was then gifted in return when Deasy got the job of Asst. Supt. and hired his generous mentor as a consultant for around $380,000. Now that is quite classic quid pro quo.

   The mentor seems to have gone on to defraud the university of major funds and ended up indicted, convicted, and sentenced to the very big house with bars on the windows living with other prisoners less educated than he.

   And Deasy got the LAUSD job with so much good recommendation by Eli Broad whose Academy trained him, and the pull of our ex Mayor Villaraigosa (as of July 1) who champions charters and also champions his benefactor Eli, that there was no search done for any other candidates. This is the same Mayor who repeatedly and publically cheated on his teacher wife, and who gave himself a going away party last week rumored to have cost over $250,000 of taxpayer money.

   Don’t feel bad all you colleagues in the North, East, and the South…along with our great weather, we have our share of charlatans in California.

   Do you all think after what we in LA have told you about Deasy and LAUSD that we can easily do without him?

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6. George Buzzetti says:

   June 29, 2013 at 2:54 am

   Ellen, we might get bored and be successful. What would we do then? Deasy gave him the contract when he was at Santa Monica-Malibu before Prince Georges County.

   I just read ever word and footnote of the judges decision. First, it is a former judge who has filed the complaint. This never happens. This means it is well thought out all the way through all potential appeals process’s. You read what Vallas and his lawyers have argued and then you read the law and what the judge says and why and if the appeals judges cannot be bought off or power played this decision has a good chance of surviving. It is not that the failed record of Vallas is not known. Let us hope that this is more of the apparent beginning of the turn back on insanity to sanity.

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7. Diane Fager says:

   July 5, 2013 at 11:14 am

   As we know, nothing in life is black or white which is how I view Paul Vallas. I worked for Paul at the Chicago Public Schools as the Director of Policy and Program Development. Specifically my role was to identify and obtain non-traditional, sustainable funding for school based social and health services. Why? Because Paul Vallas felt that unless you addressed the holistic needs of children, you weren’t serious about students’ reaching their full academic potential.

   I realize it is extremely simplistic to frame education policy in short phrases but for purposes of making a point, I will take that liberty. One of the most critical debates of our time is how do we effectively educate children/youth- especially those in large urban school districts. On the one hand, there are those that believe that it is all about the “effectiveness of the teachers” as measured by the outcomes of standardized tests taken by their students in one day. On the other hand, there are those of us who believe that unless you address the impact of poverty, the most incredible teachers imaginable will be compromised in their efforts to enable their students to reach their full academic potential.

   Since I judge leaders by their actions and not their words, Paul Vallas exemplified the position that educators must address the impact of poverty on students lives. Since Paul knew that some kids were failing because they literally couldn’t read the blackboard due to not having eye glasses, he started CPS’ Vision Program in which students who failed their vision screenings were bused in a school that had been set up as Vision Center in which students received full exams and eye glasses on site- all for free. The Vision program continues to serve thousands of students at CPS-95% of whom needed glasses. But since Paul knew that students couldn’t attend school regularly if they didn’t have access to a doctor, he funded the KidCare Program- a school based enrollment program for free and low cost health insurance. School based enrollment in public benefit programs continues at CPS by the Children and Family Benefits Unit who enrolled over 13,000 students in food stamps/SNAP and Medicaid/SCHIP Insurance last year.

   Paul was also the first superintendent to fund a school based teen pregnancy program, “Cradle to the Classroom”, that was in over 70 high schools. Why did he do that when needless to say, it was not a popular idea in Chicago at the time? Because when advocates showed him the impact of school based programs on attendance and graduation rates as well as the long term outcomes of the teens’ babies, he never hesitated. Cradle to the Classroom went on to become a nationally recognized program. Paul also understood the impact of violence on students’ ability to thrive and learn.

   As a historian, Paul understood the risk of people becoming desensitized to children and youth being murdered or struck down by a stray bullet. So he funded the Youth Outreach Workers to not only mitigate the potential for violence by having school patrols before and after an incident of school based violence but also to address the psychological and economic needs of the victims’ families and their peers. Specifically, Paul ensured that students were buried with dignity which meant that when needed, CPS paid for the whole funeral- first with Paul’s personal funds and then later with the Childrens’ First Fund created for that purpose. To try and help with the grief of the victims’ friends and teachers, crisis workers were immediately deployed to the victims’ schools and grief counseling was provided. He even funded buses to transport students from their schools to the funeral home.

   There are many more examples that I could give but hopefully these few illustrate my point. Paul never wavered in his support for these programs even when others said that with strains on school funding, why should CPS fund social and health service programs? They also criticized him for his prioritization of early childhood education but Paul did not waver since he saw early childhood education as the cornerstone of learning and one of the most effective anti-poverty strategies available to educators.

   As some would say- Paul marched to his own drum. In my opinion, as well as the majority of my colleagues then working under Paul at the time, we admired Paul’s priorities and guts. Did I agree with all of his initiatives- of course not. But who is perfect which is my very point!! In my opinion, it is not helpful to view Paul Vallas and his legacy through one lens because that is too simplistic and counter-productive in our attempts to learn from history. Compounding that complexity is Paul’s willingness when it really counts to admit to his mistakes such as when Paul stated that the messaging of modern day education wan NOT the problem,but rather it’s the product that is the problem including a reference to the “testing industrial complex”. He even made fun of himself by saying that this might sound like Nixon going to China hearing this from him. Do some of us wish that he had realized and admitted this sooner- of course. But its better late than never and its only one part of the story.

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