Parents give high marks - with some reservations

In his first three years on the job, Paul Vallas has won overteachers and administrators, lawyers and lawmakers.

But what about the people who have a more personal stake in whathe has done and is doing: the parents?

Many mothers and fathers of Chicago's schoolchildren give Vallashigh marks.

They praise the end of social promotion - the passing ofchildren regardless of achievement. They like the financialinvestment in new buildings, the emphasis on back to basics, the risein test scores and the overall perception of positive change. Theylike Vallas' accessibility and his willingness to listen.

They also have concerns about the amount of power Vallas wields,particularly when it comes to something near and dear to theirhearts: local school councils.

Albert Randall, whose 5-year-old daughter was just accepted intoone of the system's magnet schools, praises Vallas for pushingstandards and accountability.

"I take my hat off to him," said Randall, who lives in the SouthLoop. "Going back to basics can only benefit any student,particularly those who have had a lack of that. I've found thatpeople who can read and write are also good thinkers. . . . I thinkhe's doing a very good job."

Parent Claudia Mazola, co-chairman at Galileo Academy on theNear West Side, agrees. "I think he's really moved in the rightdirection. No tests are perfect, no teachers are perfect, but youhave to start somewhere. Kids need to be accountable. Kids need toget back to basics. I think Paul Vallas has brought that to theforefront."

South Sider Mary Sherrod, whose 16-year-old daughter attendsBogan High School, also grades Vallas high.

But she also has concerns, particularly when Vallas talks aboutwanting more power to hire and discipline principals - an authoritythat by state law belongs to local school councils.

"I think he's kind of stepping over the line there," Sherrodsaid. "If he starts pulling those powers, then what do (LSCs) reallyhave left?"

Mazola has fewer such concerns, but she said that's mostlybecause she has not had a run-in with Vallas or the School Board.

"If we did, I'm sure there's a good chance I would thinkdifferently," she said. "He's not making it easy for some LSCs, butI actually think that's a good thing."

What parent Cora Hudik likes most is the sense of confidencethat she says Vallas has restored to the system.

"Overall, he has been much better than some predecessors," shesays. "The past kind of depended on who you knew or where you were.. . . It was much more political."

For Sherrod, it is Vallas' willingness to hear her out. "Hedoes respond when you write," she said. "Somebody will get back toyou. In the past, you had to call 15 people only to get sent back tothe first person you were dealing with."