Straight Up Conversation: Fla. Supe Tony Bennett on the Indiana School Grading Furor
Since Monday afternoon, a furor regarding Indiana's school accountability system has engulfed Florida state chief Tony Bennett (who was formerly the state chief in Indiana). The brouhaha centers on e-mails that Bennett and his staff penned regarding an Indiana charter school. The school, Christel House, initially received a "C" grade under the Indiana grading system in 2012. That occasioned a flurry of e-mails, and ended with Christel House receiving an "A". Added fuel to the fire is the fact that Christel House's founder Christel DeHaan had been a contributor to Bennett's campaign and to that of other Indiana Republicans. A typical headline from Monday and yesterday was that over the Huffington Poststory. It read, "Tony Bennett... Changed Top GOP Donor's School's Grade." Having long been a friend and admirer of Bennett's, I was interested in hearing his take on the situation. We spoke yesterday afternoon, and here's what he had to say.
Rick Hess: So, Tony. You know that the story here is disconcerting at first look. Can you offer any more context or backstory that we should know?
Tony Bennett: The backstory is simple here, Rick. In our first run of the new school calculations in Indiana, we turned up an anomaly in the results. As we were looking at the gr
Tony Bennett: The backstory is simple here, Rick. In our first run of the new school calculations in Indiana, we turned up an anomaly in the results. As we were looking at the gr
