Did This Little Election Strike a Big Blow to Education Reform?

[xchrom]

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/09/did-this-little-election-strike-a-big-blow-to-education-reform/279735/


Paul Vallas was hailed for his work in post-Katrina New Orleans, but controversy has dogged him in his current post in Bridgeport, Connecticut. (Alex Brandon/Associated Press)

In the world of education reform, Paul Vallas is a superstar. As leader of school districts in Chicago and Philadelphia, he expanded charter schools and testing. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, he replaced New Orleans’ ravaged public schools with a radical experiment in decentralized, charter-based learning. President Obama’s education secretary, Arne Duncan, has hailed him as an innovator.

And yet a tiny, little-noticed municipal election in Connecticut last week may have been his undoing -- and a major setback for the self-styled reform movement he champions, which increasingly faces tough political fights after years of ascendance nationally. The results in Bridgeport, Vallas's opponents claim, are proof that communities are mobilizing to defeat the reformers.

For the past two years, Vallas has served as the controversial superintendent of schools in Bridgeport, Connecticut, a depressed post-industrial shipping town that is the state's largest city. Last Tuesday, three Vallas-supporting school-board members were trounced in the city’s Democratic primaries. Vallas’s opponents -- liberals, labor unions, and angry public-school parents -- are calling it no less than a repudiation of his philosophy. And Vallas is likely to lose his job as a result.

“A coalition of teachers, parents, local activists, working families, and good-government groups -- folks with a stake in the education system in Bridgeport -- came together and defeated the Bridgeport political machine,” said Lindsay Farrell, state director of the Connecticut Working Families Party, which backed the winning slate of insurgent candidates. “I think we have reason to be optimistic that the tide is turning against this corporate reform movement that Paul Vallas is the poster child for.”

[Tansy_Gold]

1. From such small victories may others blossom. n/t

[xchrom]

2. from your lips to god's ears. nt

[Jefferson23]

3. HIGHLY recommend..this needs to happen throughout all the states.

Ct has had other interesting and hopeful signs, recently. In special ed, 24 parents in the well to do town, Darien,
began an uproar over the special ed director..long story short. The director was a hired gun by the town to
cut costs, and some special ed teachers quit including the SLP b/c they would not work under
such an unethical individual.

Some very brave soul, leaked a memo written by the special ed director, which basically called for unity
in agreement on IEP's for the staff. This essentially eliminates services for children and is a huge violation of IDEA.
The 24 parents hired an attorney and took their complaint to the state, this case is one to watch due to the
state/federal funding issues.

Teachers, providers and parents are definitely fighting back in CT.

[KamaAina]

4. A mayoral election in Washington, DC turned on this issue.

Mayor Adrian Fenty was shown the door because he backed the mother of all ed deformers, Michelle Rhee, and was replaced by Vincent Gray.

[SoCalDem]

5. People want their schools back..

They want smaller neighborhood schools that are close by and of a manageable size.

I have no official stats to prove this, but I firmly believe that smaller/local/neighborhood schools are better for everyone..kids/teachers/parents.

I also believe that schools should be funded from the treasury..NOT property taxes.

Parents do not want their kids to literally have to win the lottery to go to a "good school".

It could also help solve the bullying situation, if schools were smaller and less like impersonal warehouses for kids while parents work.

[Larkspur]

6. And this lawsuit could affect the re-election chances of Gov. Malloy (D-CT)

and he has only himself to blame for it.

He pissed off the teacher's union and the pro-public school advocates by supporting Vallas and the for-profit charter school movement.

Malloy only won by about 6,000 votes in 2010 with lots of thanks to Obama's visit to Bridgeport in the waning days of the 2010 campaign to rally apathetic Democratic voters to the polls.

The last poll I saw had him losing by 3 pts to his 2010 Republican opponent Tom Foley. I'm no Foley fan but Malloy's nickname among CT Progressives is "DLC Dan".

Visit Jon Pelto's blog "Wait What?" http://jonathanpelto.com/ to get a CT perspective. Pelto supported Malloy in the 2010 primary and general election, but became a leading vocal critic of the Malloy Admin since then.

[Jefferson23]

7. Malloy is in trouble, no doubt about it. n/t