The problem with the Paul Vallas brand of school reform
Paul Vallas
Paul Vallas has long enjoyed a reputation in the education reform world as a school turnaround specialist, even while critics have routinely noted that his “turnarounds” have been less than successful. Most recently he has been running the public schools in Bridgeport, Conn., at least, that is, until a Superior Court judge ordered that he be removed from the job because he hadn’t compliedwith a state law requiring him to take a school leadership program. His supporters appeared to the state Supreme Court, which has agreed to hear the case this fall.
In the following post, veteran educator Larry Cuban looks beyond the Vallas situation in Bridgeport to fundamental issues that his brand of school reform poses. Cuban was a high school social studies teacher for 14 years, a district superintendent (seven years in Arlington, VA), and professor emeritus of education at Stanford University, where he has taught for more than 20 years. His latest book is “Inside the Black Box of Classroom Practice: Change without Reform in American Education.” This post appeared on hisblog.
By Larry Cuban
Lee Iaccoca, Steve Jobs, and Ann Mulcahy were CEOs who, respectively, resurrected Chrysler, Apple, and Xerox from near (or actual) bankruptcy to profitability. They were turnaround heroes–saviors, if you like–to their corporate boards