Although Paul Vallas is often credited by the mainstream media as having “saved” Chicago, Philadelphia, and New Orleans, these districts remain unsaved. Of the three, Philadelphia is in the worst shape today, its finances in shambles, desperately underfunded, nearly 4,000 teachers and other staff laid off, schools under threat of closure or privatization, students with little or no access to the arts and the other essentials of a basic education.
Here is a report on Vallas’ time in Philadelphia.
Vallas launched the nation’s most extensive experiment in privatization, which was evaluated by the RAND Corporation.
Here is RAND’s report on Vallas’ foray into the “diverse provider model.”
In sum,
“The major findings of the analysis of achievement effects under the diverse provider model in its first four years of operation are as follows:
• Sweet 16 schools: There were no statistically significant effects, positive or negative, in reading or math, in any of the four years in which they received additional resources.
• Privately managed schools (as a group): There were no statistically significant effects, positive or negative, in reading or math, in any of the four years after takeover.
• Restructured schools: There were significantly positive effects in math in all three years of implementation and in reading in the first year. In the fourth year, after the Office of Restructured Schools had been disbanded and the additional resources for the schools had ceased, the former restructured schools maintained a substantial (though only marginally statistically significant) effect in math.
In short, after four years of intervention, achievement gains in privately operated schools and sweet 16 schools, on average, are no different from Philadelphia’s districtwide gains.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Terra Nova results for Vallas’ last year in Philly were also released “without fanfare” since they were flat. In fact, the poorest results, those in science, were not released to the public at all.
Absolutely wonderful summative article on Vallas– loaded with links:
Attempting to reinvent the wheel made absolutely no difference except to make the wheel fall off in Philly.So much for charterization as the reform savior.
What everyone seems to miss about Vallas in Philadelphia is that he was so bad with the money he was ordered to not spend another cent without approval. Philadelphia is in some ways like D.C. since the state and mayor run the schools. In D.C. the mayor runs the schools but the Feds have a lot of input especially with money unlike Philadelphia. Philadelphia has about $11,600/student now. Not a lot for the East Coast but above the national average. It is what you do with the money. D.C. probably has the highest percentage of its students in charter schools with 40%. But they fund the charter schools with $13,000/student less than the regular public schools which someone got $274,000,000 extra somewhere. In Philadelphia it looks like they extra fund the charter privatizers or a reverse switch. One way or another Rhee, Vallas et al purposely ran those districts into financial and educational troubles as they never had before and they want us to call this “Reform!!!!” Deform and/or Destruction are better terms for their activity. This is just like the lies they tell at LAUSD. All the ways to fight them are in the budget when put together with the facts on the ground. Programs and employees take money. See where the money is going. I have looked at Philadelphia’s budget. You have many places to go if you read and analyze it. This takes time and it needs to be done back through time. We do this and they do not know what to do when it comes from their own data bases.
1
This comment was posted on the website ‘onlyinbridgeport’ the other day:
Bridgeport educator // Jun 28, 2013 at 10:11 pm
I don’t know where or from whom you get your information Mr. Lee, but there is no time left to tell for Bridgeport students. They must be freed now from this gang of thieves. Here is Vallas’ legacy: Go into any of the three high schools and see the apathy, frustration and fear in the students. The students know they are not getting an education. They are sad and starving for discussion and essays, for reading and questioning real literature and historical and topical documents. They wonder where their teachers have gone. They spend day after day completing tests and being called out of class for rap sessions with college students, for pilot programs for test companies, comprehensive test practices for textbooks and curricula and to visit college courses and support fund raisers.
Teachers are left out of all district decision making. Questions to the administration are met with anger and punishment and sarcasm. It is a clear “like it or leave it” atmosphere. Courses that have had high enrollment and were successful are eliminated because they didn’t start with the Vallas gang and replaced by the same class with a new name. Music, drama, and specials have no budget. Certified staff and faculty positions for Graphic Arts, Electronics, Print shop, Woodshop, Clothing, Foods and Child Care have been or are being eliminated. Guidance counselors, nurses, drug counselors, librarians, literacy and math coaches are being cut or totally eliminated.
There has been zero funding for libraries and little or no funding for pencils, toner, general school supplies, copy paper or basic classroom materials. Substitutes are rarely called so students are herded into the gym or cafeteria or auditorium with few if any certified staff. Student IDs were never completed this year. Special Ed records were never brought up to date because the new Vallas software never quite worked.
What ever happened to “Safe Corridors?”
Next year the high school schedule is absurd. Students at Central will have four full days of straight classes and one full day of essentially substitutes or study hall. This is to allow their teachers to meet for a day of PD. What PD will it be? Will it be the latest Gates or Broad flavor of the month? Will it be purchased to funnel more Bridgeport public money into a private corporation? More money being spent on out-of-state/out-of-district snake oil programs? Also do you remember state-mandated School Governance Councils? They were mocked and ignored. The Parent Center dismantled.
There are no directors for areas of academic discipline; therefore no one oversees the English, history, art, music, reading or math departments. No department meetings. No sharing of ideas or lessons. No one is responsible for the reading programs in the elementary schools or for any professional development or training. A comprehensive and completely new curriculum along with very expensive textbooks was purchased, but no training or practice was ever completed. In fact no teachers were a part of the decision-making in the purchasing. But highly paid, $300.00 – $500.00 a day consultants from Vallas’ out-of-state coterie sit in empty and unstaffed libraries reading education articles on their computers and meeting teachers to hand them the articles.
This administration hired a football coach with a record that includes rule breaking, suspensions and cheating. But at some point even he had to get a certificate to be a coach. Mr. Lee, if all this doesn’t make Bridgeport parents and taxpayers realize this administration has only contempt for them, I don’t know what will.
It is apparent Vallas is neither academically nor morally qualified to lead children. Bridgeport students and residents are and will continue to be his victims if we don’t heed the verdict.
Mr. Lee, the state certifies, licenses or credentials nurses, manicurists, lawyers, arborists, LPNs, hair colorists and so many more, but perhaps with regard to our students no license need exist as long as one is a friend of Malloy or Pryor. (As is certainly the case in most Connecticut charter schools.)
The last 18 months have been chaotic, confusing and demeaning. There is no time to tell any more.
And please tell me what in God’s name does this mean?
They have been visualized, set in motion, communicated to many publics and are working their way forward by a QUALIFIED individual. Who is truly taking on the tasks of the “kids in the classroom?”
http://onlyinbridgeport.com/wordpress/judge-bellis-rules-against-vallas-qualifications-to-serve-as-school-chief-city-to-appeal-decision/#more-47706
I worked under Paul Vallas in Philadelphia. He destroyed our school district and left it in a state of devastation — morally and ethically, and of course, academically and financially. It has been down hill ever since.
He turned many of our most student centered programs into test preparation factories.
And now Philadelphia has hired Bill Hite, who worked under John Deasy (currently dismantling education in LA) in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and then took over for him. The schools in PG are bankrupted from all the corporate fix-its Deasy and Hite bought rather than train and trust teachers, and the quality of education is declining after their leadership. Children and teachers alike are frustrated. So, brace yourselves, kids. Hite has all of Deasy’s character, and all of Duncan’s intellect. I don’t know much about Philadelphia’s schools. Hite may be better than you had, but I sure am glad to see the back of him.