Paul Vallas

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 were located in Philadelphia, New Orleans, Bridgeport, and Cook County.
Vallas ran for Governor of Illinois in 2002, however lost the Democratic nomination. In 2014, he was the Lieutenant Governor of Illinois Democratic nominee, however lost the general election. He ran for Mayor of Chicago twice, once in 2019 (coming in ninth place) and is currently running in the 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 six-year tenure was greater than two-times the average tenure at the time for school superintendents in large U.S. cities.
Political career.
In 2002, Vallas ran for Governor, but lost the primary. 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.
Mayoral candidacies.
In March 2018, Vallas formerly filed to become a candidate 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.
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 of which died of an opioid overdose.