“We thought we had a good guy,” said Tammy Boyle, a parent leader and mother of two children. “But at each and every turn, he has ignored the wishes and the voices of the people of Bridgeport.” -- New York TimesThe great education hustler and architect of top-down "reform", Paul Vallas, has pulled off yet another great hustle. After being ousted from his job as Bridgeport's superintendent by a superior court judge, Vallas has the cash-strapped school district paying his legal fees. Vallas must have learned the tactic from Chicago's torturing cop, Jon Burge who soaked the city for millions in legal fees before finally being put away. Of course, I'm not comparing Vallas' to Burge. Just saying.
I received this statement from Taylor Leake, Communications Director of the Connecticut Working Families Party.
"It's a true shame that the Board of Education voted to waste public money defending an unqualified superintendent. That money should be used to educate students, not for legal fees. It would be far better to spend money hiring more teachers to reduce class size, expanding, instead of cutting, special education programs, enriching the curriculum with elective activities that keep students engaged and in school, providing targeted vital services like free and reduced meals, medical services, and counseling to address non-academic issues that hold students back, and training and support for teachers."My favorite Vallas quote has him responding to his critics by referring to us bloggers as "electronic graffitti". I'm thinking of using that on the SmallTalk logo. Thanks Paul.
The controversy has captured the opinions of CT state politicians, educators, and reached the federal level with the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, siding with Vallas. They argue in the press over what Vallas has done for Bridgeport, or what he has accomplished outside of the state.
ReplyDeleteA more serious far reaching problem, however, is this example of the State of Connecticut’s unequal application of certification requirements to educators. If a certificate is not necessary for a high-profile educator to work as an administrator in the state, why have the requirement at all? If education course work is unnecessary, why should the state’s colleges and universities offer courses at all? And if there is no need for certificates or coursework, why have I paid money to the state to keep my teaching and administration certificates updated?
In Connecticut, the land of steady habits, inequalities in certification requirements make the state a little less steady.
FULL POST: http://usedbooksinclass.com/2013/07/26/certifiable-in-connecticut/