What the heck?? what do you all think of this? Infighting is a surefire way to help our students get a decent education! Geez. Vallas Fiasco Continues – CT taxpayers inappropriately paying Vallas’ legal bill Jul 11 jonpelto Connecticut’s superior court has ruled that Paul Vallas lacks the legal credentials to serve as Bridgeport’s superintendent of schools. Governor Malloy’s Commissioner of Education violated Connecticut law when he waived Vallas’ certification requirements because Vallas had not completed a school leadership program as required. The Connecticut court further ruled that because Vallas lacks the appropriate requirements to hold the job he must leave the position immediately. And without any approval by the Bridgeport City Council or the Bridgeport Board of Education, the taxpayers of Bridgeport (and Connecticut) are paying for Vallas’ legal fees THE FACTS: Stefan Pryor, Malloy’s Commissioner of Education, recruited Paul Vallas to become Bridgeport’s acting superintendent. Bridgeport’s illegally-appointed Board of Education hired Vallas and then extended his contract before Connecticut’s Supreme Court ousted the illegal board and ordered the State to return the Board to local control. Since Paul Vallas was not certified to serve as a superintendent in Connecticut, Stefan Pryor wrote, the General Assembly passed, and Governor Malloy signed a law allowing Pryor to waive Vallas’ need to meet Connecticut’s certification law if Vallas served as acting superintendent for one year and completed a school leadership program at a Connecticut college or university. Despite the law taking effect July 1, 2012, Paul Vallas did not even approach the University of Connecticut to inquire about enrolling in their school leadership program until seven months later (February 2013). However, Vallas lacked the academic credentials to enter UConn’s Education Leadership Program (which takes 13 months to complete) so Vallas and a professor at UConn developed a three-credit independent study course that they claimed would serve as a school leadership program. Despite never registering at UConn, and paying the in-state fee when Vallas actually resides out-of-state, Paul Vallas “completed” the independent study course in half a semester, later telling the court that it took him 7-10 days of work. Half way through the course, upon Commissioner Pryor’s recommendation, the State Board of Education approved the “school leadership program” for Vallas using the three credit independent study as description of the “program.” Using that State Board of Education approval, Commissioner Pryor then waived Vallas’ certification requirements. Meanwhile, community activist and former Connecticut Superior Court judge Carmen Lopez and Debbie Reyes-Williams, a Bridgeport public school parent, brought a lawsuit against Vallas claiming that he lacked the credentials necessary to serve as Bridgeport’s superintendent and could not serve in that capacity. The City of Bridgeport was not a defendant in the case. Vallas was being sued personally because it was Vallas who lacked the credentials necessary to serve as superintendent. Without the approval of the Bridgeport City Council or the Bridgeport Board of Education, the Bridgeport City’s Attorney Office took on the task of representing Vallas before the court. Connecticut Superior Court Judge Bellis presided over the trial and last month ruled that Vallas did not have the credentials necessary to serve as Bridgeport’s superintendent, that he had violated Connecticut law by failing to complete a school leadership program as required and that Commissioner Pryor violated the law by waiving Vallas’ need for certification after Vallas only completed the course. Carmen Lopez and her fellow plaintiff then filed a motion in the Connecticut Superior Court stating that since Vallas wasn’t properly certified to hold the position; the court should order that Vallas immediately vacate the position. Once again, with no approval by the Bridgeport City Council or the Bridgeport Board of Education, the Bridgeport City Attorney’s Office hired big-time Hartford law firm of Cowdery, Ecker & Murphy to join Vallas’ defense team. The firm has done hundreds of thousands of dollars-worth of work for the City of Bridgeport in the past. Judge Bellis held a hearing on the plaintiff’s motion to have Vallas dismissed immediately on July 10, 2013. Vallas’ team of attorney’s included both the Bridgeport City Attorney’s Office and attorneys from Cowdery, Ecker & Murphy. Vallas took the stand in his own defense to argue why Bridgeport Schools could not function without him. Attorney Kevin Smith, representing Lopez, argued that superintendents come and go, a strategic plan is in place and that there are plenty of others administrators who could run Bridgeport’s schools until a replacement superintendent was chosen. Judge Bellis ruled in favor of the plaintiff’s motion and ordered Vallas to vacate the position immediately. Rather than face defeat, the City of Bridgeport announced that their team of attorneys has filed an appeal and that Vallas will stay put for ten days as they move their appeal forward. To date, the City has refused to provide information about how much taxpayers are paying for Vallas’ defense. However, more than 80% of Bridgeport’s school budget is funded by state taxpayers and last year, after Malloy intervened, the state provided Bridgeport with an extra $3.4 million in the form of a forgivable loan to balance Bridgeport’s school budget. The new State Budget provides Bridgeport with extra funds for its schools. Even with that increase in state funds, Bridgeport taxpayers are facing a major increase in their local taxes to fund the City’s budget. And yet, even though Bridgeport is not a party to the lawsuit, the City is spending significant public resources to defend the indefensible. _________________________________
Posted on: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 01:14:11 +0000
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