Why label Paul Vallas Bridgeport’s $229,000, “part-time”, superintendent

Aug 20

jonpeltoBridgeport, Mayor Bill Finch, Paul Vallas , , 8 Comments

Over the weekend, a reader wrote to ask why I often refer to Paul Vallas as Bridgeport’s “part-time,” superintendent of schools.

The reason is that, by comparison, Connecticut’s other superintendents approach their jobs as full-time leaders.

Like a ship’s captain, they see their duty as being on the bridge, at all times.  They believe their duty is to ensure that students, teachers, administrators, staff and parents know that there is one person at the top of the chain of command.

Back on June 26, 2012, Team Vallas responded to concerns about the Superintendent’s schedule by posting on their “Questions Forum” Paul Vallas’ schedule from January till June.  They marked what days he worked in Bridgeport, and what day he was “out of the district.”

We know Vallas has a private consulting business.  His company signed a $1 million deal to work in Illinois, and the joint venture he has with The Cambium Learning Group out of Dallas, Texas, recently signed an $18 million contract to work in Indianapolis.  He also continues to consult in Haiti.

The response that Team Vallas put up on the Questions Forum claimed that, “in total, from January 1st to June 21st there were 119 working days in the District.  When balanced out with any complete weekend days worked, the Superintendent has worked a total of 112 of those days.”

Now that would make it appear that Paul Vallas WORKED 112 of the 119 working days, but needless to say, that isn’t true.

When you look at his schedule, there were 17 days that teachers worked, but the captain of the ship wasn’t around.  And because he “works” on many weekends, there were more than a dozen weekend days that Vallas got paid for working, but there were no students or teachers around.

That means that more than 25 percent of the time, there was a crew on deck, but no captain, or a captain at the helm, but no crew.

In addition, over those twenty-five weeks, Vallas took at least 11 paid vacation or paid time-off days.

You can be sure that no other Connecticut superintendent was absent that much of the time.

And, of course, few make $229,000 (only Wilton and Westport pay more.)

So, combine all those two facts, and Vallas gets labeled Bridgeport’s, part-time, superintendent of schools here at Wait, What?

Unfortunately, Team Vallas hasn’t updated the Superintendent’s schedule since June 21st, but rumors had him off consulting in Haiti, Dallas and elsewhere over the past 2 months.

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  • Guest

    He can work part time because he has so many of his private consulting firm employees doing consulting work in Bridgeport. The latest is the high school orientation program, an admirable effort, but not one that Bridgeport didn’t already have in place at Harding and at the Central Magnet. It’s true that these schools didn’t have programs that lasted as long as this year’s did, but it would have been good to use the organizers of these two programs to design the expanded program because they have the experience of what has worked and what has not.
    Instead, true to the pattern he has clearly established, the superintendent brought in two outside consultants. Does he have no faith in anyone in Bridgeport?

  • Castles Burning

    Another answer would include how little has actually been done–despite the rhetoric–to improve EDUCATION/LEARNING. As a reader of The Connecticut Post, I have found that Lennie Grimaldi listed more factors than any other writer about why the current “illegal” BOE candidates should be “re-elected.” He writes:
    “They can talk about successes: balancing the budget, implementing a five-year budget plan, progress for a new Longfellow School in the West End and Harding High School on the East Side, a new school security program, partnerships with area universities, upgraded technology and textbook program, bringing in many experienced principals and administrators to share a new vision with a record of success, and working together as a collective unit to get things done.”
    http://onlyinbridgeport.com/wordpress/school-board-seats-up-for-grabs-can-bagleys-fast-break-lift-working-families-party-gops-chance-to-win/#more-36374
    I wonder how much credit the Vallas team and BOE can take for balancing the budget when they have private donors (very unclear what role they are playing in the public schools) and the state gave them 3.5 million last year. A five year plan has been proposed but certainly not implemented. I do not know about the degree of progress on Longfellow and Harding. The security initiative was developed by a specialist whom Vallas had worked with previously in New Orleans and with the police and is not directly related to educational issues, although I do applaud the recognition of the importance of safety (on many levels) for the students. Some seniors (numbers unknown) are gong to colleges to take courses but college classes in a supportive environment have always been available. The impact of bringing in new principals has yet to be seen, and the reasons for the dismissal of the previous was not made public; the new candidates were only announced last week when school starts this week, The “vision” behind these changes is not at all clear and this is an administration that likes to use the word transparent. Can a system “manage” so much change at once, especially when it is a system that has seen its fair share of change in recent years.
    We know that the Bridgeport schools lack the technology to support the curriculum but, to my knowledge, no one has addressed this issue. The curriculum was put together in a piece-meal fashion over the summer, which is not standard practice. The list could go on and I encourage others to add to it.
    Review Jon’s columns for what has been done, that is what money has been spent for computer programs, other contracts, and services provided by others outside of BPS. This is not the record of a team that is focused on how best to educate the students and provide them what they need. Much has been touted about buying textbooks yet teachers, except purportedly in a few cases, were not consulted about what they needed.
    It is harder to educate students now than ever before with all of the “plans” that have NOT been explained to the teachers. Teachers report for “duty” in three days and have no idea what they will be facing, except that it will be top down directives that will most likely not be for the best of students because the only concrete plan known is that there will be six benchmark test throughout the year to demonstrate how students and teachers are doing. Diane Ravitch has much documentation on how “teaching to the test” undermines education.
    Does this sound like sufficient accomplishment for a full-time, committed superintendent with an array of his own staff?

    • Linda174

      Parents and taxpayers need to start speaking up at BOE meetings. Questions need to be asked and answered. This is all a shell game….by the time teachers get a handle on what is happening Vallas will have moved on to the next victim,

  • buygoldandprosper

    He keeps track of his days out of the state because he does not pay Connecticut income tax on the days he is out,no?
    If that is the case…it fits in perfectly with the rest of Dan Malloy’s job creation plan and his administration’s endeavors so far.Talking a lot for his resume and future campaigns and actually getting very little done,of substance.Oh! And do not forget to blame the past…always the past.
    Dan Malloy–flyweight with a heavyweight mouth.

    • jonpelto

      Hey that is an excellent point! Why the …. I’ll have to double check but I’m sure you are right. He is allocating his total salary by the days he is in any particular place. So we give him $229,000 and don’t even get our fair share of income taxes!

  • Guest

    Before anyone allows the current board to credit itself or the superintendent with balancing the operating budget, remember that:
    1. It was partly balanced by a $3.5 million loan from the state (with an unconscionable string attached) that will certainly be forgiven, but no one deserves credit for this. It is taking taxpayers’ (in this case, state taxpayers) money and adding it to the inadequate funding Bridgeport provided the school system.
    2.There are millions of dollars in spending, e.g., the textbook purchases, that won’t be paid with this year’s budget. No one likes to think that these bills will eventually have to be paid. This is like purchasing furniture or appliances and getting a year to pay for it, interest free. That is a nice benefit, but the bill will eventually have to be paid, and they will have to be paid when other expenses also have to be met.
    As for the other matters credited to the current administration: The new Longfellow School will be provided almost entirely with state money; there is nothing that the current board did, other than ask for more money from the SDE. The new Harding High School was already funded by the SDE before the current board was appointed. The same is true of the new Roosevelt School and the multi-magnet high school.

  • Querculus

    I believe his title is “interim superintendent.” From what I have seen, all of his letterheads and communications announce that he is the “Superintendent.”

    Note too, that his original three part job description included a search for a suitable superintendent. No progress on this has been made. Ha. Imagine if I only did two thirds of my job. Tenure or not!

    The 11 paid days off is really galling.

    Teachers with young families are having their contractual personal and sick days denied all over the place. Bridgeport has come down on teachers who take far fewer days off than their contract allows for. And then the absentee superintendent takes off eleven days— not including his scheduled “unpaid” days away– in half a year?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Tommy-Burns/712565941 Tommy Burns

    So this means anyone who lives in Bridgeport needs to vote Bill Finch out of office for he has no vision, no scruples and no b-lls unless he terminates this phony (Vallas)–I dont live in Bridgeport but I am sickened by what the populace is letting their poitico’s do—show your gumption and vote for a total new board – a new Super–and a new Mayor—–lead the way people—-this isnt ancient Egypt and you do not have to obey the Pharaoh—-