1. Paul Vallas served as the superintendent of the Bridgeport Public Schools in Connecticut and the Recovery School District of Louisiana, the CEO of both the School District of Philadelphia and the Chicago Public Schools, and a budget director for the city of Chicago.
Paul Vallas was the runner-up in the Democratic primary of the 2002 Illinois gubernatorial election.
Paul Vallas ran as the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in the 2014 Illinois gubernatorial election.
Paul Vallas was a candidate in the 2019 Chicago mayoral election.
Paul Vallas was most recently the runner-up in the 2023 Chicago mayoral election.
The grandson of Greek immigrants, Paul Vallas grew up in the Roseland neighborhood on Chicago's South Side.
Paul Vallas spent his teen years living in Palos Heights.
Paul Vallas graduated from Carl Sandburg High School and attended Moraine Valley Community College and then 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.
From 1985 until 1990, Paul Vallas led the Illinois Economic and Fiscal Commission.
From 1990 until 1993, Vallas served as Chicago's municipal budget director under Mayor Richard M Daley.
Paul Vallas served as superintendent of school districts in four United States cities.
Mitch Smith of The New York Times retrospectively wrote that in these positions, Paul Vallas "cultivated a reputation as a crisis manager and charter school supporter willing to take on hard jobs and implement sweeping changes, an approach that garnered a mix of praise and criticism".
Paul Vallas served as CEO of the Chicago Public Schools from 1995 to 2001.
Paul Vallas expanded the number of non-neighborhood schools, which included selective enrollment high schools, charter schools, and some of the city's first public military schools.
Paul Vallas launched thirteen International Baccalaureate programs in the city's public high schools.
Paul Vallas's departure came two weeks after Gery Chico's resignation, the Chicago Board of Education's president.
Many praised Paul Vallas's tenure, crediting him with improving the school district's performance.
Martha Woodall of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote in 2002 that, in Chicago, Paul Vallas attained a reputation of being, a "savvy, hard-working, blunt-speaking manager who insists on doing things his own way".
In July 2002, Paul Vallas was appointed CEO of the School District of Philadelphia.
Paul Vallas's appointment occurred six months after the state took over the school district.
Paul Vallas quickly moved to propose a reform agenda modeled after the actions he took in Chicago.
Paul Vallas had the district create new after school programs, as well as new Saturday school and summer school programs, which were mostly run by private companies such as The Princeton Review and Kaplan, Inc As superintendent, Paul Vallas undertook a program of new school facility construction and renovation of existing facilities.
Paul Vallas's tenure saw the establishment of an increased number of privately operated disciplinary schools and alternative schools.
Paul Vallas increased the number of International Baccalaureate programs in the city and the number of military academies in the district.
Paul Vallas left the job in June 2007 to take a position in Louisiana.
Paul Vallas signed a two-year contract as superintendent of the Recovery School District of Louisiana.
Paul Vallas remained head of the Recovery School District through 2011.
In December 2011, Paul Vallas was hired by the board of education for Bridgeport, Connecticut, to become the interim superintendent of Bridgeport Public Schools, effective January 1,2012.
In June 2013, Paul Vallas became the permanent superintendent of the Bridgeport Public Schools.
Paul Vallas resigned on November 8,2013, to run for lieutenant governor of Illinois.
Rauner recommended that Paul Vallas be made board chairman, despite the board having already elected a chairman months earlier.
Weeks after the appointment, Rauner recommended that Paul Vallas be a crisis manager for the university.
The board allowed Paul Vallas to apply for the two positions, but only once he stepped down from his position on their board.
Paul Vallas served in the position during 2017 and 2018.
In late-January 2018, after it became known that Paul Vallas intended to leave the job to run for mayor of Chicago, the university's board dismissed him and expressed anger towards him, accusing him of using his position at the university to bolster his political prospects.
Paul Vallas had served only half the time his contract with the university specified.
In 2002, before being appointed CEO of Philadelphia's school district, Paul Vallas was one of several applicants seeking appointment as Illinois superintendent of education.
Paul Vallas continued to work as a Bronner Group consultant.
Paul Vallas is the co-chair of the Advisory Board for the National Education Support Network.
Paul Vallas placed second in the Democratic primary in March 2002, losing narrowly to then-US Congressman Rod Blagojevich and finishing ahead of former state attorney general Roland Burris.
In February 2009, Paul Vallas gave an interview to Carol Marin in the Chicago Sun-Times and stated that he planned to return to Cook County, Illinois in 2009 and run as a Republican for president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners in the 2010 race.
Paul Vallas went as far as forming an exploratory committee for such a prospective candidacy.
On June 11,2009, Paul Vallas announced that he would not be a candidate for president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners in 2010.
In November 2013, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn tapped Paul Vallas to be his running mate in the 2014 election after incumbent lieutenant governor Sheila Simon chose to run for comptroller instead of seeking reelection.
Quinn and Paul Vallas lost the election to the Republican ticket of Bruce Rauner and Evelyn Sanguinetti.
In March 2018, Paul Vallas formally filed to become a candidate in the 2019 Chicago mayoral election.
When he entered the race, Paul Vallas was seen as a potentially strong opponent to incumbent Rahm Emanuel, seeking reelection at the time.
Paul Vallas staked a large part of his candidacy on his record as head of Chicago Public Schools, arguing that he helped to turn around the school system and that his leadership left the system in better shape.
Paul Vallas claimed that the Chicago Public Schools were healthier under his leadership than they were in 2019.
Paul Vallas was endorsed by Deborah Lynch, former president of the Chicago Teachers Union.
In mid-January 2019, a class-action lawsuit was filed against the Paul Vallas campaign, alleging that it had violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, which prohibits calling or texting a person using an automatic telephone dialing system without their consent.
Paul Vallas accused the lawsuit of being, "a dirty trick" orchestrated by the "political machine".
Ultimately, in the first round of the election, Paul Vallas placed ninth out of fourteen candidates, receiving 30,236 votes.
In June 2022, Paul Vallas announced his candidacy for mayor again in the 2023 election, challenging incumbent Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Paul Vallas was a critic of the Lightfoot administration over what he characterized as her lack of accountability amidst a rise in crime and violence in the city.
Paul Vallas promised that he would extend both the length of the school day and the school year.
The month that he launched his campaign, Paul Vallas appeared at a fundraising event for Awake IL, a political not-for-profit that had been criticized for its anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.
Reporter Gregory Pratt later claimed that the Chicago Board of Elections had said that Paul Vallas had not voted in the Republican primary and that the records that showed him as having done so were due to a "coding error".
Paul Vallas was the only white, non-Hispanic candidate on the ballot in the 2023 mayoral election.
Similarly, Justin Kaufman of Axios opined that Paul Vallas is "the candidate most likely to court the police and firefighter vote".
Paul Vallas received the endorsement of Chicago's Fraternal Order of Police lodge, which serves as the city's police union.
Also endorsing Vallas were Chicago aldermen Brian K Hopkins Anthony Napolitano, Brendan Reilly, and Tom Tunney.
Paul Vallas was often viewed as being either a conservative or politically moderate candidate, especially when compared to other candidates in the election.
Paul Vallas received significant campaign donations from sources considered politically conservative and aligned with the Republican Party.
Paul Vallas was criticized by opponents for holding perceived conservative political positions, in particular allegedly opposing abortion rights.
Nonetheless, in the same interview Paul Vallas had described himself as "personally pro-choice".
Paul Vallas disputed the anti-abortion characterization and asserted that his words were taken out of context.
Paul Vallas pointed to past endorsements from the pro-choice groups Planned Parenthood and Personal PAC during his 2002 gubernatorial and 2014 lieutenant gubernatorial campaigns.
Around the same time, Paul Vallas received the endorsement of the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune.
Paul Vallas responded that he lived in Chicago, while his wife lived in Palos Heights to care for her elderly parents.
Paul Vallas denied liking the tweets and claimed that his account had been hacked.
Some analysts believe that Paul Vallas benefited greatly from staking out a "tough-on-crime" stance amid widespread concerns among Chicagoans about crime.
Paul Vallas accused Johnson of lacking "substance" and of lacking a significant political record.
Paul Vallas campaigned on lowering crime, while characterizing Johnson as wanting to "defund the police".
Johnson attacked Paul Vallas as having hurt Chicago Public Schools' finances during his tenure as CEO.
Paul Vallas's campaign spent almost $17 million, outspending Johnson by a ratio of nearly 2-to-1.
In 2020, Paul Vallas served as an unpaid consultant to Chicago's Fraternal Order of Police police union during contract negotiations with the city of Chicago, playing a role in the negotiations.
Paul Vallas supported constructing a new airport in Chicago's southern suburbs.
Paul Vallas opposed a proposed casino in Rosemont, Illinois, citing that gambling should only be permitted to advance economic development.
Paul Vallas opposed raising the state income tax, claiming it would be wrong amid an economic downturn.
Paul Vallas opposed the proposed renovation design and was against the possible selling of naming rights for the stadium.
The Paul Vallas campaign released a statement confirming Gus's involvement in the shooting, saying that the complete investigation found him to have not been "engaged in any violations of policy or procedure" and that he had been returned to "full duty".