VALLAS FACTS: Racism and corporate 'School Reform'... Paul Vallas began to purge of Black teachers, administrators, and other staff from Chicago's public schools as part of corporate 'school reform'... The Paul Vallas I knew, by Dr. Grady C. Jordan
[Editor's Note: The following article originally appeared in Substance print, March 2002, and on line in the debut Web edition at www.substancenews.com -- the "old" substance Website, which has been replaced by www.substancenews.net. The article was by Dr. Grady C. Jordan, who had served as high school superintendent in Chicago prior to corporate school reform. Dr. Jordan was forced out of CPS by Paul Vallas, as he describes below. But Dr. Jordan was one of the first of hundreds of Black school administrators -- and thousands of Black teachers and other school staff -- to be forced out of their jobs by corporate school reform as it was pioneered in Chicago between 1995 and 2001.
Dr. Grady C. Jordan (above right) was interviewed by Channel 7 News following his public condemnation of the Board of Education, which was scheduled to destroy George W. Collins High School at the meeting held that day. Dr. Jordan had been the founding principal of Collins HS when it was opened in September 1976 and led the West Side school throughout the 1970s and 1980s, until be was appointed Chicago's high school superintendent. After corporate school reform came to Chicago, Paul G. Vallas forced Dr. Jordan out of work, and Vallas's successor, Arne Duncan declared Collins a "failure," based on standardized test scores. Collins had served one of the poorest populations of students in the segregated North Lawndale community for more than a generation when it was closed as a real public schools and turned over to (a) a charter school in one part of the building and (b) AUSL in another part of the building. Duncan's 2002 attack on Collins was opposed by the community and community leaders, but was approved by the Board of Education as part of Duncan's continuation of Vallas's anti-Black "reform" agenda. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt. The policies of Paul Vallas, however, were not just those of one man. Vallas's successor, another non-entity until he was made chief of Chicago's schools, was Arne Duncan. Promoted by the same people and forces that created Vallas, Duncan went on to perfect the "Chicago Plan" and with the election of Barack Obama President of the United States, Duncan became U.S. Secretary of Education and, via "Race To The Top," make the Chicago Plan -- and all its racism -- national eduction policy. George N. Schmidt, Editor].
Has Chicago seen this much official racism since the end of Jim Crow?... The Paul Vallas I know, By Grady C. Jordan, Ph.D.. High School District Superintendent. 1985-1995. Phone: 773 - 637 -2828. Original URL for this article: http://www.substancenews.com/archive/March02/jordan.html.
After hearing some African-Americans singing the praises of Paul Vallas, I was reminded of the lady who, after listening to the tributes and eulogy for her late husband, went up to look into the coffin to see who was really there.
The Paul Vallas that I know misused the resources, authority, and prestige of his office to harass, humiliate, intimidate and attempt to destroy the careers of many Black people. Vallas’ negative tone toward Black people was set immediately upon taking office. In selecting staff for the top five positions in his administration, he did not interview one Black man. The pattern that he set of excluding Black men from positions of significance prevails to this day.
Despite this sorry legacy, last June I sat at the bar at the University Inn and saw dozens of Black men, led by Dr. John “Watch Dog” West, parading in to pay homage to Vallas. Even though they must have known that they would not be admitted, I saw several Black women present themselves at the door to register their presence. I guess they wanted “Ol Massa” to know that they tried their damndest to get onto the plantation.
Recently I have become aware of the fact that A. Phillip Randolph, after his long struggle on behalf of the Pullman Porters, turned down an offer of a million dollars to betray his people. During the Civil War, many Black soldiers refused to accept any pay because it was less than that being paid to White soldiers. These were men who understood the true meaning of manhood.
Paul Vallas’ web site lists African American administrators, coaches and others who support Paul Vallas [for Governor of Illinois]. If I may be allowed a personal question: How do you support Paul Vallas when you know that the following happened to me?
-- I was banished from the system -- forever -- as a “black racist.”
-- By contrast, a white colleague who had retired has worked every day in addition to drawing a pension.
-- Had to obtain a lawyer and fight to get my full pension.
-- Despite the fact that after 25 years as an administrator handling hundreds of millions of dollars without a single blemish, I was subjected to three years of a criminal investigation with Vallas’ States Attorney unit coming to my home twice.
But I was not alone among Black administrators and principals who were subjected to ill-treatment by Paul Vallas. I was merely among the first.
It was reported to me that in 1995 during a public meeting at Austin High School, Paul Vallas cavalierly announced that the principal, a Black man, was being replaced. This man, who had done absolutely nothing wrong, was hearing this for the first time. Why did Vallas need to rob this man of his dignity? I am convinced that it is because Vallas operates on the basis of the Supreme Court decision in the Dred Scott case: “Black people have no rights that Whites are bound to respect.” He will use the taxpayers’ money to buy those Blacks that he feels he needs at the moment. As I heard one Black activist say: “He finds out a Black person’s price and then he doubles it.” With the taxpayers’ money of course.
Two years ago, a small group of Black men got together and compared notes on the principals who had been removed from their schools by Vallas. At that time, they came up with a list for 45. Of that number, 42 were Black. In other words, 93 percent were Black. This clearly is racial profiling. Black people who support Vallas should be concerned about this.
Early in the Vallas years, Christine Clayton was serving as principal of Senn High School. There was a racist cabal in the area that always wanted her out. When Vallas came in they found a soul brother. Christine Clayton was out. A hack politician from city hall shattered her career as an educator, for which she had worked hard for many years.
Consider:
Debrona Banks, Steve Newton, Beverly Martin, Shirley Woodard, Theodis Leonard, and others …the list is long. Every one of these administrators was forced to file — and win — a lawsuit against the Board of Education because of the actions of Paul Vallas.
The number of Black principals and administrators who had to go through endless litigation to secure their rights since Paul Vallas took over is unprecedented. It would cause a major uproar in any other city. The cost to the taxpayers — millions of dollars in legal settlements, fees, and costs — would be a scandal in any city but Chicago and with any administrator but Paul Vallas.
At the same time he was undermining the authority of Black principals and administrators, Paul Vallas was terminating tenured teachers, large numbers of whom were Black, the heart of the school system, using equally unfair methods. Sadly, the teachers had fewer resources during those years than the principals who stood up to Vallas. Most have seen their careers finished by his policies.
In the process, are our children getting a better education? I don’t think so. The Vallas years saw the largest increase in the number of children driven out of the public school system, thanks mainly to the testing programs of Paul Vallas. Paul Vallas is now running for governor of Illinois. If he is successful, he will have a four-year contract with the people of Illinois. He would have every expectation of being allowed to fulfill his contract. Despite the fact that I consider Paul Vallas to be the most unprincipled, unscrupulous, unethical person I ever met in my professional life, I would be the first to say that if he wins fair and square, he should be allowed to fill the contract with the people of Illinois.
Unfortunately for a number of would-be black principals in the Chicago Public Schools, Paul Vallas is not so fair-minded. Local School Councils voted several Black members of the Chicago Public Schools staff contracts, but Paul Vallas would not allow them to fulfill those contracts. The courts have ruled that contracts voted by an LSC are valid. Vallas has spent millions of dollars of taxpayer’s money fighting and losing in court. Here are just a few, all from the past year:
On October 24, 2001, the school board quietly voted to pay a settlement of $261,216 to Steve Newton (and an additional $38,783.21 to his attorney). Vallas had slandered and removed Newton — under police escort! — from the principalship of Marshall High School four years earlier. The same screaming headlines that accompanied Newton’s humiliation at Marshall did not follow the more than $300,000 the school board paid to him because of Vallas’s policies.
Also on October 24, 2001, the Chicago Board of Education agreed to pay a settlement of $292,209 to Theodis Leonard, whom Vallas had removed as principal of Paderewski School as part of Vallas’s “probation” policy. Others may follow because of this same problem.
On November 28, 2001, the school board agreed to pay a monetary payment of $80,000 to Beverly Martin, whom Vallas had prevented from taking the position of principal of Gale School five years earlier. During the course of the litigation, the school board paid for three sets of attorneys (for Martin; for the LSC; and for the Board of Education) in a case that cost more than a quarter of a million dollars. On February 26, 2002, Shirley Woodard spoke to the Chicago Board of Education and told the board how she had won a federal lawsuit (and a jury award of $300,000) because Vallas had removed her from the principalship of the South Loop School. Woodard’s comments made the newspapers because she is still not in her principal position and told the board that she is reporting to work every day but not being given duties at the Region 3 office.
And there are others who could be listed.
All of the people involved in the litigations cited here are Black. To my knowledge, all of the people who have been denied contracts under these circumstances have been Black.
Everybody who works on any kind of job has hopes of advancement. When you spend time and money preparing for an upgrade, and then have it denied for no reason, it is a bitter pill.
One young Black man — Tom Brown — was voted a contract at Taft High School. Vallas would not allow him to have the job. Vallas gave the job to a White man who had not received the votes. Not long after that, the young Black man died. How can all of the Black people who are supporting Vallas support this kind of racism? That’s exactly what you are doing. Recently, some White firefighters in Chicago were awarded damages and positions because it was ruled that they were victims of job discrimination. Vallas not only got away with it, but Black folk from the system are supporting him in his racism. I heard that a Black coach has been escorting him to Black churches.
The Chicago Principals and Administrators Association, which claims to be a union representing principals, has maintained complete public silence regarding this Vallas racism and Vallas’ practice of denying Black people their earned principals’ jobs. This sin was recently compounded when the executive board of the association voted to support Vallas for governor and gave his election campaign $5,000.
There are a number of Black people on that board. I am herewith calling them out. You know who you are. A lot of other Black people know who you are. For the most part, Vallas singled out black principals to push out of their jobs. More importantly, he refused to allow several to assume their duly-awarded principal contracts. If you voted to support Vallas under these circumstances, or if you have kept quiet while others have, you are a traitor. Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hammer, Martin Luther King, et al must be spinning in their graves at such acts of Uncle Tomism, pathological individualism, and cowardice.
Fortunately, as in the Hanrahan election, rank and file Black people in Chicago have shown that they know who their enemies are despite the Judas goats that attempt to lead them to slaughter for their own selfish reasons.
