Paul Vallas — who was recruited by the state’s education commissioner to run Bridgeport Public Schools — is running for lieutenant governor in Illinois as the running mate with Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn.
The Illinois governor confirmed his choice in a statement.
“Paul is an independent problem solver with a proven record of reform. He will be a strong lieutenant governor for the common good,” Quinn said Friday.
So what does this mean for Vallas’s future a the leader of Connecticut largest public school system and one of the lowest-achieving districts?
Vallas and his spokesman at Bridgeport schools was not immediately available Friday.
The news was first reported by the political blog Capitol Fax.
Vallas has had a tumultuous couple of years in Bridgeport. A decision is pending from the Connecticut Supreme Court on whether Vallas has the proper prerequisites to even be a superintendent in the state. He also lost control of his local school board during this week’s election when several candidates opposing him won a spot on the board.
Jacqueline was CT Mirror’s Education and Housing Reporter, and an original member of the CT Mirror staff, joining shortly before our January 2010 launch. Her awards include the best-of-show Theodore A. Driscoll Investigative Award from the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists in 2019 for reporting on inadequate inmate health care, first-place for investigative reporting from the New England Newspaper and Press Association in 2020 for reporting on housing segregation, and two first-place awards from the National Education Writers Association in 2012. She was selected for a prestigious, year-long Propublica Local Reporting Network grant in 2019, exploring a range of affordable and low-income housing issues. Before joining CT Mirror, Jacqueline was a reporter, online editor and website developer for The Washington Post Co.’s Maryland newspaper chains. Jacqueline received an undergraduate degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University and a master’s in public policy from Trinity College.
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