Vallas reformed an ailing system June 8, 2001 With its $3.5 billion budget and 435,000 students, if the Chicago Public Schools were a nation, it would have an economy the size of Guam's, but with triple the population. In the mid-1990s, it was a very troubled place, mired in scandal and beset by deficits and dysfunction. Kids weren't learning. As part of sweeping school reform, Mayor Daley appointed the city's unassuming, workaholic budget director, Paul Vallas, to be the first chief executive officer of the public schools. It was an inspired choice. Vallas threw his famous drive and energy into addressing the myriad woes facing the schools, from a rebellious teachers union to sagging test scores, plus an unacceptable dropout rate and certain schools that had nearly ceased to function altogether. He eliminated deficits, re-organized failed schools and transformed what had been a source of shame to the city into something which, while by no means perfect, was at least an example of what can be done when intelligence, daring and enthusiasm are applied to urban problems. Test scores marched higher, year by year. The worst schools were shaken up. Social promotion was abandoned, and mandatory summer school established in its place. Finances were put in order. In short order, the results became national news. President Clinton singled out the Chicago Public Schools as a success story, and Daley had no problem in including improvement of the schools as the glittering jewel in the crown of urban success he liked to anoint himself with in the national media. Vallas was fiscally conservative, yet radical when it came to trying new ideas he thought could work, be it sending report cards to parents to rate how well they were involved in the education of their kids or establishing experimental anti-bullying initiatives and programs designed to reach out to professionals in other fields to address the lack of qualified teachers willing to work in the worst schools. The threat of teachers' strikes, once an annual rite of autumn along with changing leaves, became a hazy memory. While his critics had a point when they complained that Vallas put too much emphasis on testing and test scores, his argument that testing was the only way to measure progress was difficult to refute. This year was shaping up as another banner one. It began with the mayor asking for, and the City Council granting, a $30,000 raise for Vallas, though he accepted only a figure commensurate with the percentage increase received by rank-and-file teachers. But then, as was bound to happen, the expectation for every more improvements hit a bump. The latest reading scores were down at some grades, and that caused some to note that after years of progress, most Chicago kids still read below national levels. Perhaps worse, Vallas publicly tut-tutted the feasibility of a few programs that Daley tossed out as possibly bringing benefit to the school system. First, school board president Gary Chico resigned and then, with the typical lack of grace or gratitude that Daley can show those who work for him, Daley shoved Vallas out as well--though Vallas insisted Thursday that the decision to quit was his alone. He is just 48 years old, and we know that a year from now, when he is working for whichever organization is lucky enough to grab him or at whatever endeavor he takes on (and Steve Neal, on Page 47, says that could be a political campaign), Vallas can look back on his tenure at the helm of the Chicago's schools with well-deserved pride and satisfaction. -- This is the CPS Science Teacher List. To unsubscribe, send a message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For more information: <http://home.sprintmail.com/~mikelach/subscribe.html>. To search the archives: <http://www.mail-archive.com/science%40lists.csi.cps.k12.il.us/>
