The Emails and the Money Trail in Tony Bennett’s Grade Change Scandal
Tony Bennett knew he was in a bind with Indiana voters last year and so did the wealthy education privatization movement who eventually donated $1,885, 304 to his ill-fated campaign. Along with four members of the current Florida Board of Education, Bennett bagged $200,000 from Alice Walton, $50,000 from Eli Broad, $40,000 from Mike Bloomberg AND $64,000 from Michelle Rhee. Among Bennett’s top donors was Christel Deehan, a successful condominium developer from Indianapolis. Deehan ranked third among Bennett’s donors with a total of $90,000 in three separate contributions. She also founded an Indiana charter school – Christel House – in 2002.
According to the Associated Press, Bennett learned in September that Deehan’s charter school was set to receive a ‘C’. Deehan had just made a $50,000 contribution to Bennett in late June.
Emails obtained by The Associated Press show Bennett and his staff scrambled last fall to ensure influential donor Christel DeHaan’s school received an “A,” despite poor test scores in algebra that initially earned it a