Reflections: Then and Now
Submitted by Frank Murphy, Sept. 30, 2010
Paul Vallas was employed to lead the School District of Philadelphia in July of 2002. This was shortly after the state had assumed control of the district. The takeover came at the end of a long and often bitter dispute over the adequacy and equity of the funding provided to the Philadelphia Public Schools by the state. There was much finger pointing concerning who or what was responsible for the less than stellar academic performance of the students of Philadelphia.
Initially, state officials intended to contract a for-profit educational management organization, Edison Schools, to manage the district’s central office. As part of this plan, Edison Schools would also assume direct operation of many of the schools within the district. There was significant public opposition to this plan.
CEO Paul Vallas’ response to the prospect of Edison assuming control of the central office was simple and straight to the point. He said that he was hired to manage the district. In the end, Edison didn’t obtain a contract to manage the central office. They did however assume management of 22 of the district’s schools. Paul Vallas assumed control of the central office. Thus started another chapter in the story of school reform in the city of Philadelphia.
The school reform strategy utilized during the tenure of Paul Vallas was Paul Vallas. From the moment he arrived in Philadelphia, Vallas effectively communicated that he would make all things right in our city’s schools. He said he would eliminate the chronic school budget deficit. New schools would be constructed to replace ancient and badly worn facilities. Making every school a safe school would be a priority. And most importantly, he claimed that the academic performance of all students would improve. The public as well as the local press enthusiastically welcomed him.
During the years he was the district’s leader, Vallas implemented a number of changes to the manner in which the district was managed. Core curriculum materials were purchased for all of the district’s schools. A curriculum-pacing framework was created to guide the use of these new materials. Many middle schools were converted into high schools as part of a drive to create many small high schools in place of large comprehensive ones. As part of this school reconfiguration plan, most k-5 or k-6 schools were transformed into k-8 schools. These would have been notable accomplishments, if he were able to find a way to pay for them.
The district under his leadership borrowed a large sum of money for the purpose of building new school facilities. An attempt was made to save money by contracting out many services that were formerly handled by the district to independent venders. This included food services, alternative education services, various custodial services and facilities management. In fact, district expenditures increased as a result of these contracts. Paul Vallas who was acclaimed as a budget expert drove the district into deep debt by pursuing unfunded reform strategies.
Public discussion or debate played little if any part in the decision-making process that drove school reform policies during the Vallas era. Paul, along with the School Reform Commissioners, decided what the course of the district would be. He was quite successful at pushing his agenda. He enjoyed the support of the local media. They portrayed him as though he were a super hero.
Yes, Paul Vallas was a reform strategy.
Faster than a speeding bullet.
More powerful than an entrenched union. Able to leap tall tasks in a single bound.
Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s Paul Vallas!
For a short time there were people who believed that Superman did exist and he was residing in Philadelphia. They were wrong.
It has been a little more than three years since Mr. Vallas resigned as the CEO of Philadelphia. Apparently all wasn’t well between Paul and the members of the SRC. There were tensions below the surface. Then the press revealed that there was a massive budget deficit. Within a few months of this revelation, Vallas flew away.
Philadelphia’s failed champion of school reform is currently attempting to rescue New Orleans’ Recovery School District. In our city, his formerly touted accomplishments, like sand castles, have been washed away by the rising tide of a new district administration. A new super hero, San Francisco’s vanquished school reform leader Arlene Ackerman has replaced him. She isn’t exactly Superman. Ackerman is more like an incredibly angry green Hulk. She is tearing up the district with her reform ideas.
Both of these leaders are attempting to successfully implement in their new locations, much of the same agenda that they pursued in their prior school districts. It seems that the elected officials who are responsible for employing them and the press that act as their cheerleaders don’t seem to understand that Superman and the Hulk are comic book characters and not school reform strategies. We need to help them stop pursuing school reform fantasies and instead seek enduring solutions for the problems that plague our schools.
Making our schools more effective and responsive to the needs of students is a task that we all must accept as members of a democratic society. Rising to this challenge calls for citizen engagement in the discussion and debate over what type of school reform we should pursue in our nation. We the people must make it clear to our school and elected officials that it is unacceptable for them to make important policy decisions without first engaging the public.
When we abdicate our individual responsibility to participate in important policy discussions and decisions, we weaken our democracy. Our strength as a society derives from our belief in the concept, that the people do govern our society.
There will be no superhero who will save us should we fail to do so ourselves.