The Echo

Paul Vallas,  a "superstar" in education reform (deform) in Chicago, Philadelphia, and New Orleans, has been ordered to vacate his latest superintendency in Bridgeport Connecticut because he fails to hold the state's certification as required by Conn. law. 

Vallas came into Bridgeport by way of that state's Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor and was welcomed with open arms by the city's mayor and formally hired by the district's school board.  Pryor and Vallas had previously worked together rebuilding the school system in Haiti.  Vallas has friends in lots of high places, but apparently not in Conn's adjudicate...

Vallas has been ordered to step down because he did not complete a state-mandated leadership program, the Connecticut Post reports.

The independent-study program, at the University of Connecticut's Neag School of Education, was created specially for Vallas. Connecticut's law requires superintendents to have a certification that Vallas, who was appointed by state education commissioner Stefan Pryor, had not obtained.
The Post reports that in arguments, the course was described to the judge as requiring between a week and ten days of work for Vallas. Vallas apparently got an A. Other superintendents in the state were required to take a 13-month course at the NEAG school. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/District_Dossier/2013/06/conn_judge_paul_vallas_must_st.html

 On Monday, Bridgeport's school board voted to ask the state to waive some of the state's requirements for superintendent, the Post reports. But this decision overrides that vote.

The ruling comes after a lawsuit was filed regarding whether his credentials were compliant with the law. Conn's teachers union had previously filed complaints with Pryor over whether or not Vallas was violating other state laws that required him to seek imput from constituencies such as teachers and parents.  Earlier this month, Pryor dismissed those complaints claiming that the union had not attempted to solve the program through the local board and thus did not yet rise to his jurisdiction.  Vallas has also been criticized because he supports privatizing education.

Meanwhile, supporters are citing a lack of longitudinal data as the reason they can't say whether or not Vallas time in the Conn district has been beneficial. 

And all of this matters to us in Delaware b/c Vallas was one of the players behind Chicago's ed reform efforts that became the road map for Race to the Top and the reform models that the PZ school's were forced to implement upon being named failed schools. 

It's likely that Vallas and team will appeal today's ruling.