VALLAS WATCH: New video to trace destruction of New Orleans public schools and the creation of the first 'all charter' school district in the USA
Paul Vallas during his term as New Orleans schools chief. A new video released this month by activists in New Orleans will ultimately trace the history of the destruction of the real public schools of New Orleans and the creation of the nation's first all-charter-school public school district. Part of that destruction was the elimination of the largest Black-led teachers union in Louisiana, and the expansion of corporate "school reform" across the city as its communities reeled in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. "A Perfect Storm: The Takeover of New Orleans Public Schools Part One 17 Days in November" is from the New Orleans Education Equity Roundtable.
According to those who produced the video: "A Perfect Storm: The Takeover of New Orleans Public Schools is the first in series of short videos, that reveals the real story behind the creation of the nation's first all charter school district. These videos are made possible with the support of the The Schott Foundation and The New Orleans Education Equity Roundtable. They are produced in partnership with Bayou and Me Productions."
Although a central figure in the destruction of the New Orleans public school was Paul Vallas (following his work in Chicago and Philadelphia), the initial video has not yet reached the "Vallas Years" in New Orleans.
This is the URL for the video: http://bit.ly/nolastrm
The video was produced by Phoebe Ferguson and Raynard Sanders through the nonprofit (where articles and reports can also be found) -- Research on Reforms.org. 
By 2013, Paul Vallas and the "Vallas Brand" had been undermined because of the cumulative impact of the Vallas lies and the racism that followed the leadership of Vallas in each of the school districts he was "chief" of. Despite the fact that Vallas never taught in a real public school, he was anointed an educator and created as the first "Chief Executive Officer" of Chicago's public schools by Mayor Richard M. Daley in 1995. Vallas went on to serve the Business Roundtable and other architects of corporate school reform in Philadelphia, New Orleans, and finally Bridgeport. At each point, the crazy corruption of the so-called "Vallas Team" eventually led the district to get rid of Vallas. In Connecticut, Vallas was exposed for a fraud because he did not have any credentials to be a superintendent in that state. At the end of his career rope, Vallas was saved when Illinois Governor Pat Quinn announced that Vallas would be his running mate for the 2014 gubernatorial election.
The video features Karran Royal, an ardent parent advocate and has worked tirelessly for parent and student rights as the expansion of the charter schools in New Orleans has followed the same pattern as in Chicago and other cities -- undermining the public right to an education for the most at risk children while cherry picking students for the charters.
Despite the claims of the charters, seven years after the New Orleans charter takeover began, the majority of New Orleans charter schools are still among the lowest scoring schools in Louisiana. The video adds to the collection of Vallas Watch materials available to voters in Illinois.
