Former Florida education commissioner Tony Bennett says he feels vindicated by a report addressing his conduct as head of Indiana’s school system. But at least one Indiana schools official says the report is more critical of Bennett than he lets on.
The report, commissioned by the Republican heads of the Indiana House and Senate, says Bennett rushed to modify Indiana’s A-F school grading system and that the process for making those changes wasn’t transparent enough. As a result of the changes, 160 Indiana public and charter schools saw their grades go up—including one run by a prominent GOP donor which went from a C to an A. It report does not say whether Bennett’s actions were politically motivated.
Instead it says the grade changes were applied in what it calls a “plausible” manner. But Indiana State Teacher’s Association President Teresa Meredith – who campaigned against Bennett and for his eventual successor Glenda Ritz, doesn’t put much stock in the findings:
“For me, if someone is exonerated of something, some statement would have been placed in there that there was no evidence that this was for personal gain of some sort," Meredith says. "I think they actually made a statement in the report that said, they didn’t investigate the political merits or reasons that may have caused this action to be taken.”
Bennett resigned as Florida education chief after reports suggested he changed Indiana’s school grading system to benefit Christel House. In a statement, Bennett says he’s pleased with the report’s findings and that he hopes what he calls “political attacks” will stop.
--
Statement from Dr. Tony Bennett on Independent A-F Review
“I appreciate the work of Bill Sheldrake and John Grew and the diligent way they went about researching their report. The report clearly shows that accusations of manipulation of the A-F system for a single school are false and malicious. I am pleased with this vindication, not for me, but for the work of my colleagues at the Department of Education and for the 1.1 million Indiana students who have benefitted and will continue to benefit from a clear and rigorous school accountability system.
“You will remember that when the Department of Education released school grades last year, I said the process was imperfect and could be improved greatly. Still, it is a far better measurement and accountability tool for our schools than has ever been used in our state. Giving parents, communities and teachers clear and understandable measures of school progress is vital to improving the academic achievement of our students. This should always be our goal, and I appreciate the recommendations of the Sheldrake and Grew report.
“I hope the unfounded political attacks will now stop and we can focus our attention on providing a great education to Indiana students and building on the success of the past four years.”
For more news updates, follow Lynn Hatter on twitter @HatterLynn
