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Lies in Vallas vitae
By Sharon Schmidt
 Why is Paul Vallas
still lying about his teaching experience? On his campaign web site and
in materials distributed to the press, Vallas claims he was an “Elementary
School Teacher, 1976 – 1980. ”
A Substance investigation
has revealed that Vallas did not teach elementary school for four years.
The item on his “Biographical Summary” is flagrant resume padding.
Neither Vallas nor
his spokesperson, Matt Ryan, returned Substance’s phone calls that
asked for Vallas’s current story regarding his “teaching experience”
and a comment for this article.
Vallas has altered
his version of what he was doing from 1976 to 1980 at least four different
times. He has made the statements while under oath and to the press over
the past six months regarding his alleged experience. At no time could
he account for four years of “elementary school teaching.”
Despite his changing
story, Vallas has kept the item alleging the experience on his gubernatorial
campaign vitae, which was cited as fact in a Chicago Tribune editorial
on March 3.
“Teaching experience” ignored under oath
On September 20, in
a deposition taken by Substance’s lawyers (as part of the pending
case “Chicago School Reform Board of Trustees v. Substance and Schmidt”),
Vallas answered questions about his work and education history. In that
sworn testimony, Vallas did not claim any teaching experience as part
of his background.
“From my college
years, from about ’76 to ’79, I worked in my father’s business
… a restaurant business,” Vallas said.
Two weeks later, when
questioned by this reporter about those years, Vallas claimed that he
had taught elementary school for approximately two years.
At a press conference
on October 3 at the Allegro Hotel in Chicago, Vallas said that he taught
at “a public school” in Hardin, Montana “for about a year,”
and at Koreous, a Greek Orthodox elementary school in Palos Heights, Illinois
“for about a year.”
However, Vallas changed
his story after Substance reported his statements and an initial investigation.
The November Substance
reported that Vallas was not employed in Hardin nor at any other district
in Montana, according to the Hardin district employee records and the
Montana Teachers Retirement System records.
Since Substance’s
report appeared, Vallas modified his story. He now claims that he was
a student teacher in Montana. Student teachers are not paid employees
and are not in states’ pension plans.
Story changes after investigation published
On January 18, Substance
reporter Lotty Blumenthal questioned Vallas about his teaching background,
after he spoke at the Educators in Polonia meeting at the White Eagle
restaurant.
“First of all,
I started my teaching in Hardin, Montana,” Vallas said. “Oh,
you’re not going to ask me the years, I don’t remember, you
know. I went up there and did my student teaching and I stayed for the
rest of the year.”
Vallas also told Substance
that he had taught at Koreous, but he did not give any specifics of when
he taught, what grade he taught or the length of his employment.
Apparently, Vallas also
told the Sun-Times that he was a student teacher in Montana. It reported
on February 18 that, in order to overcome a stuttering problem, Vallas
“packed his bags for Montana and spent 10 weeks student-teaching
on an Indian reservation.”
The Sun-Times did not
report on Vallas’ additional alleged four years of elementary school
teaching.
An outrageous lie
Whether any of Vallas’s statements over the past six months regarding
his work experience are true — two years of teaching, one year plus
student teaching, just student teaching, or no teaching at all —
the item “Elementary School Teacher 1976 –1980” on his
biographical summary remains an outrageous lie.
According to Father
Byron Papanikolau of Koreous, Vallas taught at the school during the 1977-78
school year. Papanikolau also said that Vallas had been a student at the
school.
In his attempt to explain
his claim of “Elementary School Teacher 1976 –1980” Vallas
had told Substance that in addition to his year at Koreous and his experience
in Hardin, he had taught on the college level.
“I taught at a
number of community colleges and I also taught at Western Illinois University,”
Vallas said at the October 3 press conference. “I had a teaching
internship.”
On January 18, Vallas
said that he taught at “Spoon River”, and “Lincolnland”
community colleges.
However, allegedly
teaching a few college courses is very different from being employed for
another three years as a full time elementary school, as his biographical
summary states.
Other inconsistencies
At the October 3 press
conference, Substance asked Vallas if he was certified to teach.
“I sure am,”
he said. “Well, am I certified now? I was certified then. But, yes,
I had a teacher certification. Incidentally, you did not have to take
an exam for teacher certification in those days.”
According to both the
Illinois State Board of Education and the Montana State Board of Education,
an exam was required for teacher certification in 1976.
Other parts of the
Vallas academic record also deserve more scrutiny now that the man is
asking Illinois voters to select him partly on the basis of his claims
of “independence” and honesty.
One news report had
Vallas authoring a paper more than 700 pages long for part of his Master’s
program that he allegedly completed.
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