In this post, Jonathan Pelto assembles a timeline of the stunning court decision to remove Paul Vallas as superintendent of schools of Bridgeport, Connecticut. He includes Vallas’ tenure as superintendent of schools in Chicago, where he was hailed for “saving” the schools and in Philadelphia, where he installed the nation’s most sweeping privatization plan (to that point). Philadelphia and Chicago are now in crisis. Vallas then went on to New Orleans, where he oversaw the almost total privatization of that city’s schools after Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans is hailed by the media as a success but the Recovery School District is the lowest performing district in the state of Louisiana, its top schools skim, and it is propped up by infusions of millions of philanthropic dollars.
Is it really true that, when questioned about the continuing crises in the districts he “reformed,” Vallas has actually claimed that it’s because he’s not there anymore?
Yes. I can find it.
Yes. I was there to hear it myself.
See Alan! We’re relentless and credible..,.the real educators of CT …. You included! 🙂
several things to note about the track record of Paul Vallas.
1. he had hoped to use his tenure in Chicago to become Governor, but he lost the primary to the now-imprisoned Rod Blagojevich
2. He is downwardly mobile – notice the significant drop in the size of school districts, consistently, as each step is to a school district that is significantly smaller than his predecessor. Superintendents viewed as successful (whether or not they really are) tend to move to ever larger districts, to wit, John Deasy, from Santa Monica to Prince George’s County to Los Angeles Unified
3. The salary that Vallas was supposed to receive was disproportionate to the size of the district (which is why ambitious people tend to move to LARGER districts, not smaller) – it would be interesting to understand how that figure was arrived at, and how it compares to other districts in the state.
And the Washington post:
You can put this in the laws-only-matter-for-other-people category.
http://m.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/06/29/why-judge-ordered-paul-vallas-removed-as-bridgeport-schools-chief/
This only goes to confirm that superintendents need to be evaluated accordingly as to what they have done and has it contributed to the betterment of the district they worked for. This information should be SUNSHINED for all to see BEFORE they are employed. In addition, unlike in Los Angeles, the position should be open to multiple applicants before it is filled.
Reblogged this on Crazy Crawfish's Blog and commented:
The Vallas timeline of failure.
My guess is they will appoint him to another position where he is still runs the place, but is not called a “superintendent”.
Other possibilities:
Virtual district superintendent (where his virtual credentials work)
Superintendent (actor) for Truman Show
Superintendent of trash collection college (only because he has so much garbage constantly to clean out)
Superintendent of cowpatty college (see previous)
Convict
There are no philanthropists in this….these are investors making investments for the future. To think that this is for the children’s future is to be naive. It is cold hard calculated market driven dollars and interest for global power. The children are an after thought to their purpose.
Ronee Grof: The children are a commodity to be used to extract maximum value – for shareholders and exploiters.
For the record, Paul Vallas was NEVER the superintendent in Chicago – for the same reason the judge ordered him booted out of his job in Bridgeport. He is simply unqualified. When the mayor took over the schools, (which Vallas attempted to have the good citizens of Bridgeport do), he bestowed upon Vallas the title of CEO. That established the beginning of the corporate reform model from which the entire country now suffers. Frankly, it’s good to see his comeuppance.
Ronee and KrazyCrawfish are on the point. Vallas became CEO when Daley took over in 1995 and at the same time Obama becomes head of the Annenburg Foundation for Chicago Public Schools. How about those stars of failure aligning. This is failure after failure and yet the hero of education. What is wrong here?