By Mike DeNardo

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Philadelphia’s former CEO of the Philadelphia School District has a new job. Paul Vallas is taking over the reins in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

After leaving Philadelphia in 2007, Paul Vallas ran the post-Katrina schools in New Orleans and consulted on rebuilding schools in Haiti after the earthquake. His latest task is as interim superintendent — turning around the deficit-ridden school district in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Vallas says he’ll bring a data-driven strategy.

“That was the approach that we took in Philadelphia. I’d like to think I’ve refined that approach in New Orleans, and made kind of the instructional management – teacher training – school leadership model even better. And now I’m going to have a chance to take it to another level in Bridgeport.”

Vallas’s $229,000 salary is being paid for with private money from anonymous donors.