Paul G. Vallas, an education reformer who has led some of the nation’s most troubled school systems, including the New Orleans district after Hurricane Katrina devastated that city, is taking on a new challenge: The Bridgeport school district, ctpost.com reports. Vallas, 58, was named Tuesday as interim superintendent in the state’s largest city, whose district has some of the state’s lowest test scores and deepest poverty. He starts Jan. 1, and will inherit both a $6 million budget gap and a state-appointed school board whose very existence is being weighed by the state Supreme Court. Earlier on Tuesday at the Bridgeport Holiday Inn, Vallas said he is not intimidated.
“I am used to taking on great challenges and going into crisis situations,” he said. “Our plan is to move fast.”