Paul Gust Vallas (born June 10, 1953) is an American civil servant and politician. He is a Democrat.
He was the superintendent of many schools across the United States. Some of those schools are in Philadelphia, New Orleans, Bridgeport, and Cook County.
He ran for governor and lietenant governor. He ran for Mayor of Chicago twice, once in 2019 and again in 2023 election.
CEO of Chicago Public Schools
Vallas was CEO of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) from 1995 to 2001. He was hired by Mayor Richard M. Daley.
During his time at CPS, Vallas tried to fix the school system. President Bill Clinton said his work for raising test scores, balancing the budget, creating several new programs, including mandatory summer school and after-school programs was a model for the country.
In June 2001, Vallas announced his resignation. His resignation came soon after several failing standardized testing scores. Vallas's was CEO for six years. Thaat was more than twice the average time for school superintendents in large U.S. cities in the 1990s.
Political career
In 2002, Vallas ran for Governor, but lost the primary.<ref>Vallas interested in running for Illinois guv, Greg Hinz, Crain's Chicago Business', April 28, 2008</ref> Vallas ran for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois in 2014 with incumbent Governor Pat Quinn, but lost the election to Bruce Rauner and Evelyn Sanguinetti.
Vallas helped rebuild Haiti's school system after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
Running for mayor
In March 2018, Vallas ran in the 2019 Chicago mayoral election against Rahm Emanuel. He lost the election in the first-round of voting.
In June 2022, Vallas announced his candidacy for mayor again in the 2023 election. In February 2023, Vallas came in first place in the first round of voting and advanced to the April run-off election, facing Brandon Johnson. Johnson would go on to win the run-off election.
Running for governor
Vallas ran for Governor of Illinois in 2002, but he lost the Democratic nomination. In 2014, he was the Lieutenant Governor of Illinois Democratic nominee. However, lost the general election.
Personal life
Vallas was born in Chicago and grew up in the Roseland neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. He spent his teen years living in Palos Heights. He went to Moraine Valley Community College and then graduated from Western Illinois University, where he received a bachelor's degree in history and political science, a master's degree in political science, and a teaching certificate.
Vallas is married to Sharon Vallas and they have three sons. One son died of an opioid overdose.
References
Other websites
Collected news and commentary at NOLA.comDistinguished Scholar Paul Vallas at the Wilson Center
Political Educator Alexander Russo, Education Next, Winter 2003
The Vallas Effect, Dale Mezzacappa, Education Next, Spring 2008
Leadership: A Challenging Course Learning Matters, profile of Vallas's work in New Orleans, 2008 School's out for Vallas, CTPost.com'', June 29, 2013