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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Steve Gallon uses his Plainfield experience in self-promotion


Dr. Gallon was quite a media sensation while in Plainfield.
 
Former Plainfield
Public Schools superintendent Steve Gallon III is making use of his Plainfield experience in his self-promotion on his website here. A few days ago, I came across a review of new iMacs from Apple by -- of all people -- Steve Gallon (see that story here).

That led me to check out his website, where I find that he includes a section on his tenure in Plainfield and improvements he says he made to the District. (Readers who may be more familiar with Edspeak than I am may be able to explain to fellow readers what some of these claims actually mean -- I welcome your help by posting comments.)

Never overburdened to my knowledge by a sense of undue modesty, Dr. Gallon also posts what he calls 'Glowing Recommendations', among which are several from Plainfield personalities, including Bridget Rivers (now City Council President), Martin P. Cox (former BOE member), and Gloria Williams (retired school principal). Gallon does not make it clear when these words of praise were delivered and whether those who wrote them have approved their use here.

Without mentioning the circumstances of his tenure here, or surrounding his departure, Gallon concludes this section on his website with these thoughts --

...Steve Gallon describes himself as a workaholic and devotes all of his energies to helping struggling urban schools and youth.  His dedication is obvious to anyone he has ever come in contact with.  He will continue to work for the betterment of the public school system, utilizing his leadership skills and vision.  Steve Gallon is truly an asset to any school he comes in contact with.




-- Dan Damon [follow]

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6 comments:

Dottie Gutenkauf said...

Good grief!

I see there's no mention of his hiring his rumored girlfriends and enrolling their children in the South Plainfield public schools by falsely claiming that they and their mothers lived at his home in that district.

Well, he was certainly always good at demagogic self-promotion.

Anonymous said...

Gallon lists the following accomplishments in the Plainield Schools on his website:

Centers for kindergarten through eighth grade
The Academy for Academic and Civic Development
The Academy for the Arts and Advanced Studies
The Administrator’s Performance Planning and Evaluation System
The Leadership Development Program
Instructional Program Reviews
The School Budget Allocation Plan
He also developed the District Marketing Plan, which included Town Hall Meetings, a revised district website, a weekly educational radio show, and a district blog.

He really did all of these things. It is all a matter of the public record. Despite what you think about his personal style or the other controversies that surrounded him, he did make significant changes to our school district. These changes were for the better.

As for self promotion: it is his website that he uses to tell people about himself and the services he provides. It would be bad business NOT to take credit for your accomplishments on your own website. This is like an online resume. Would you call someone that distributed their résumé a "self promoter" or a wise job seeker?

Those people that did not like Steve Gallon for whatever reason got what they wanted. He is no longer in Plainfield. There is no need to follow him around on the Internet posting negative things about him. Attempts to continue to drag his name through the mud at this point and hurt his future work prospects is unecessary and just plain nasty. It does nothing positive for our city, our schools or our children. It is just an unwarranted attack on a person that has more than paid for any mistakes he might have made.

Anonymous said...

The question I have is -- IS he a Doctor of Education or NOT! Notice how it is NOT a part of his title... Hmmm Yet the Plainfield folks address him as Dr. Gallon in there commendations. Once again Hmmm...did he yet again DUPE Plainfield in his "DR" title... How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop...like this...I guess the WORLD will NEVER know!

Anonymous said...

10:35 a.m.,

Are you serious? DR. Gallon came to Plainfield with an EARNED doctorate. It is well know that he earned it well before his 30th birthday.

What is not a question is that the present super does NOT have a doctorate degree, a qualification lessened by the Grand Slam team after all of the hoopla about qualifications under Gallon.

9:38 a.m. hit it on the nail. Gallon DID all of those things listed and more during his stint in Plainfield.

Dan, let's see what the list looks like from the present super and board.

Their list could not compare. I'm sorry, do they even have a list?

Anonymous said...

Well said 6:22 pm,

Dr. Gallon was no fraud even though he was accused of it through rarely if ever seen trumped up charges that basically had not benefit to him. The man was listed for several super jobs across the country. His only mistake was coming to Plainfield. What a waste. Smh

Dottie even though your line of thinking seems to be in outerspace, at least you note "rumored" girlfriends when EVERYONE IN THE KNOW knows that it was unlikely that he dated none of them.


As one IN THE KNOW, I have found it strange that with all the personal attacks and references, i.e. Dottie's, I have never seen anyone question his work in improving Plainfield schools.

There was energy and excitment. Things were getting done.

Nothing is happening now except the lining of pockets of hometown cronies and do nothings.

I know cause I work in the district.

Anonymous said...

Dan,

Your dislike and bias for Dr. Gallon is painfully obvious. Or maybe your fascination with him nearly fours year later is obvious too. Which is it?
Anyway, as you shared that he was a media sensation while in Plainfield, there are MANY photos that you could have used for your blog.

You made a conscious choice to use one that paints him in a negative light.

Shame on you.