Paul Vallas and Bridgeport’s illegal Board of Education: The law applies to you too.

Jul 31

jonpeltoBridgeport, Mayor Bill Finch, Paul Vallas 33 Comments

Bridgeport’s “Education Reformer Extraordinaire” Paul Vallas and the illegal Board of Education have approved hundreds of thousands of dollars for consultants.

Paul Vallas and the illegal Board have approved hundreds of thousands of dollars for new software programs.

These purchases were done without fulfilling the legal requirements of Bridgeport’s Municipal Code:  (Codified through Ordinance of January 3, 2012, Supp. No. 10, 3-12.)

The legal requirements are not hard to understand.

And inquiring minds want to why Team Vallas believe that the law applies to everyone else but them.

The Bridgeport Municipal Code is as follows:

“Competitive bidding shall be used for all purchases of goods and general services exceeding the sum of seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500.00) (See C.G.S. § 7-148v, as amended)”

And if Vallas and the Board claim that the services they purchased fall into the category of being “special or professional services,” then the follow requirements exist:

“Purchases exempt from competitive bidding. Purchases of special or professional services anticipated to cost between one dollar ($1.00) and nine hundred ninety-nine dollars ($999.00).”

“Purchases permitted by informal competitive quotation process. Purchases of special and professional services anticipated to cost between one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) and seven thousand four hundred ninety-nine dollars ($7,499.00).”

“Purchases requiring an informal competitive proposal process. Purchases of special or professional services that are in excess of seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500.00) but do not exceed twenty-four thousand nine hundred ninety-nine dollars ($24,999.00) (Proposals shall be solicited from at least three qualified or pre-qualified vendors…)”

And purchase of special goods and services over $25,000 shall require full competitive bidding.

In nearly every case the contract that Paul Vallas signed or the illegal Board of Education approved was over $25,000.

And in none of the cases identified to date, did Vallas and the illegal board make any reasonable effort to adhere to the legal requirements.

Of course, if Mayor Finch used his “emergency powers’ to grant exemptions from Bridgeport’s requirements, then that is a whole other matter.

The fact is, people lose their job s for less.

It is time for Team Vallas to explain why they think the law doesn’t apply to them.

Be Sociable, Share!

  • GloriaB

    These arrogant people believe the laws DON’T apply to them and they DON’T have to explain anything to anyone!  Who is going to make them follow the law? The Mayor? The Governor? the Attorney General? No one so far seems to give a damn what they do with the taxpayers’ dollars.

    • guest

      Nor do they care about the lives of children.

  • guest

    I guess democracy is obsolete.  Being represented by one’s elected officials is passe.  While there are certainly attempts to control elections (why else would ALEC be so zealous about “voter id cards”?), it is just as easy, if not easier, to circumvent elections altogether.
    So cowboys like Vallas can burst into town with their privatizing agendas, and others, like Pryor, can ignore existing laws (education reform is another big ALEC enterprise).  Once the system of PUBLIC education is turned over to private hands, it won’t matter who is in office, democrat or republican.  Taxpayer dollars will go directly into private hands, the kind that will never be accountable to the public.

  • JMC

    As a retired  CT public HS teacher with 21 yrs. in CT, and 4 yrs. previous to that in NH, who testified on March 8th before Senator Harp’s Appropriations Committee on behalf of Retired Teachers, I have to say what I believe to be the truth: this is the new face of the Democratic party, both State and National. It’s the Chicago Way and the Obama Way. It is also the Malloy way, and you know as well as I do that Malloy is an Obama groupie and an Obama wannabe. It is the new face of the Democratic party’s Crony Capitalism, and it is terrifying. It’s been going on in DC for 3 1/2 years, and it’s come to CT. It is not going to stop until our  blue legislature takes back, if it can, or if it is even willing, this State. This situation is endemic, pandemic, and this is the Democratic party today. The corruption on the national  and state levels in CA, NY, and CT are stupifying. There, I got it off my chest.

    • http://www.facebook.com/melanie.savage.1610 Melanie Savage

      I agree–I don’t think either the Dems. or the Repubs. (shudder) are on our side any longer. We the People will need to take back our country by force–preferably non-violent force.

    • Not Born Yesterday

      JMC, I completely agree.  You’ve hit the nail on the head.  So what do all us (formerly) lifelong Dems do now?  Vote in the Rs come Nov, in hopes of tipping the Senate or at least causing Malloy some serious heartburn?  Vote in whichever R gubernatorial candidate emerges for 2014 and KNOW WITH CERTAINTY that he’s going to adopt the very same anti-public school/privatization crap?

      Or just move to Canada like we did during the Vietnam era?

      • realsaramerica

        When Obama’s fundraisers called me, I told them I wouldn’t give them any money until he got rid of Arne Duncan. 

      • jonpelto

        I like that message.

        I’m going to borrow it.

        No money until he has a pro-public education secretary of education.

        Sent from my BlackBerry please excuss typos

      • realsaramerica

        Unfortunately, I’ve learned that politicians suddenly pay much more attention to voters when they won’t give $$ in an election year. Not that I’ve become ragingly cynical or anything. Not that I feel let down by certain politicians I believed were going to go to Washington and actually fight for the things I cared about. *snark*

      • guest

        I like this, too.

  • Linda174

    Comment left at CT Post:

    CTTaxpayer 9:19 PM on July 30, 2012
    I think Dr. Kase has also brought in people from her private consulting company. You see, these people may be drawing more than the public paychecks; they may also be profiting from the money their consulting groups are making. The state-appointed board consists of sheep who are there only to follow the superintendent’s desires. At the last board meeting, which Mr. Vallas didn’t attend, the board tabled the appointment of the guy from Philadelphia, who was going to be given a contract as special assistant in charge of safety. I’m assuming that Mr. Vallas is attending this week’s meeting because that same item is on the agenda again. Want to be the sheep pass it this time?

  • Buygoldandprosper

    Thank goodness! Mr Ganim will be getting his license back shortly and will straighten this whole mess out.
    CONNECTICUT–STILL REVOLTING!

    • Linda174

      That’s very funny…Mr. or Mrs. buy gold and prosper.

    • guest

      I love it!  Hey, Ganim did his time!  Maybe he’ll have some insight into the Finch admin… 
      Connecticut is still revolting (great one!)–but this is America, and in America we love our comeback stories!  (Just look at that fine Christian, John Rowland!)

    • jonpelto

      They spent millions to get still revolutionary and yours is so much better!

      Sent from my BlackBerry please excuss typos

  • Sue

    The Impatience of Paul Vallas:

    “The heavy use of private companies is one of the few major points of
    dispute between Vallas and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. “I
    don’t think any of these outside companies has expertise that doesn’t
    exist inside the system,” says PFT President Kirsch. But the increased
    public acceptance of so many outside vendors is a testament to at least
    partial success. Of the 20 schools that Edison has been running, for
    instance, only one had previously achieved “adequate yearly
    progress”–the key measure in school performance under the federal No
    Child Left Behind law. But a dozen schools have reached this threshold
    under Edison’s management.”
    http://www.governing.com/topics/finance/Impatience-Paul-Vallas.html

    What really happened with Edison in Philly under Vallas:

    “What’s interesting to note is Edison’s dramatic decline ever since it
    received its 2002 Philadelphia contract. In 2001, when Edison first
    arrived at Philadelphia’s doorstep, it boasted of being the nation’s
    largest for-profit manager of public schools with more than 100
    individual schools and dozens of school districts on its client list.
    Ironically, in its sell to Philadelphia, it pointed to Baltimore as a
    model of its ability to turn around struggling urban schools.”
    http://thenotebook.org/blog/091193/edison-schools-ropes-baltimore-philly-far-behind

    It’s called the, “Let’s just throw something at the wall and see what sticks” educational agenda.

  • Sue

     http://www.parentadvocates.org/nicecontent/dsp_printable.cfm?articleID=7202

    Three of five members of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission yesterday blasted their chief executive officer, Paul Vallas, saying they felt “betrayed” and “disappointed” in his handling of a deficit that will force midyear cuts in the school system.
    “I
    am disappointed with where we are and I lack a sense of confidence
    and… faith in this management person’s ability to move us forward with
    balanced books,” Commissioner James Gallagher said before an auditorium packed with students and citizens, including Mayor Street.

    Gallagher’s
    comments followed criticism from Street on Wednesday on the surprise
    deficit and the Vallas administration’s attempts to deal with it.

    Gallagher,
    president of Philadelphia University, called the Vallas team’s
    explanation of how the $73.3 million deficit evolved a “financial
    charade.” The deficit represents about 3.6 percent of the district’s
    $2.04 billion budget.
    ——————–
    Mr. Vallas, I’m not good with money, either. But I do try to keep in in the hundreds.

  • JMC

    Jonathan,

    Your case against Vallas is, as with everything you write, cogent and compelling. And you and Linda174 and the group are doing wonderful work for kids everywhere and their teachers.

    As to your  statement that Team Vallas needs to explain why they think the law doesn’t apply to them, let me put in writing a few that come to mind (I know that given your smarts, Jon, these and myriad other of their motives have already gone through your mind):

    They think that AG George Jepson, who is very busy scoring career points by persecuting car washes here in CT in the tried and true Blumenthal manner, will stay focused on his career and on being loyal and avoid rocking the Dem boat in this election year, or any other year.

    They think that, given Chris Donovan’s problems and the stench  that is emanating from the blue State House, all honest Dem legislators are going to lay low and hope the scandal won’t reflect on them, much less deal with  touchy and arcane education law issues that few care about. 

    They think that Molloy and Pryor have given them Carte Blanche backup and that nobody who cares could do anything about it even if they wanted to.

    In other words, they think that people here in CT and their political representatives are apathetic, or cowardly, or self-serving, or ignorant, or corrupt, or more than one of each.

    So they feel that they don’t have to explain themselves because no one is going to make them.

  • realsaramerica

    Sounds like we need a courageous lawyer who cares about ethics and children to take the case on.

  • guest

    Just checking some old sources.  You know, reformers can falter (as Vallas has just about everywhere he’s ever been), and even fail, but all is forgotten in these days of achievement gaps.  Check out this older article on a cheating scandal at a reformy school, assisted by TFA:  http://www.nysun.com/new-york/high-test-scores-and-criticism-follow-a-south/80944/

  • guest

    Maybe I’ve been wrong about what TFA can do for the “achievement gap.”  It’s a time-honored tradition to look for saviors among–well, among the types of people TFA recruits:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVF-nirSq5s&feature=related

    • AM

      Love it!

  • guest

    If only it were true that Stefan Pryor’s past is catching up with him:  http://www.newarkspeaks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12221

  • Pingback: CT Essential Politics – Wednesday 08.01.12 - CT Devil's Advocate

  • Sue

     http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444405804577561442636944770.html

    Vallas in the WSJ

    • guest

      Thanks for this.  See also here http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Bridgeport-Ed-Board-tackles-teacher-absences-3751557.php
      this is a standard reformy tactic–again, chip away at teacher benefits, although 15 paid sick days, in a job where one is daily exposed to the sniffles, stomach flus, and other contagious illnesses young children and close-knit groups of people carry, can hardly be considered a luxury.
      Adamowski went after Hartford teacher sick days, trying to make teachers look bad in the process.
      These people really want to break unions and make teaching into some kind of contract, hourly-wage job.