Contributor

Paul G. Vallas, Superintendent, Recovery School District of Louisiana

Paul G. Vallas is Superintendent of the Recovery School District of Louisiana, a special state district designed to turn around underperforming schools. The RSD has responsibility for most of the public schools in New Orleans and a number of schools throughout the state. Superintendent Vallas is implementing sweeping district-wide reforms, duplicating many of the initiatives that turned the school systems of Philadelphia and Chicago into nationally recognized models for education reform. In New Orleans, a city still recovering from Hurricane Katrina and an educational system that failed generations of students, Vallas' initiatives have led to across-the-board improvements in test scores. He extended the school day and school year to provide students with more instructional time on task, implemented a high school internship program that put students to work, and modernized classrooms with innovations such as interactive white boards in all core classrooms, laptops to all teachers and high school students. In addition, Vallas implemented a high school redesign initiative that has brought career-themed academies to RSD high schools. He is overseeing an unprecedented capital project to rebuild the city's public school.

Prior to joining the RSD, Vallas served as Chief Executive Officer for the School District of Philadelphia from 2002-2007 and as Chief Executive Officer of Chicago Public Schools from 1995 to 2001. Vallas has also served as budget director for the City of Chicago and as revenue director for the City of Chicago.

Originally from Chicago, Vallas received a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science and History in 1976 and a Masters in Political Science in 1980 from Western Illinois University.