Matthew Tully: Tony Bennett's wife now works at for-profit corporation he picked to run IPS schools
Tina Bennett holds a Bible as her husband Tony Bennett is sworn his first term as Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2009. / Matt Kryger / The Indianapolis Star 2009 file phot
In June of 2011, Tony Bennett, then Indiana’s superintendent of public instruction, picked a for-profit education company in Florida to run a group of Indianapolis public schools.
The company, Charter Schools USA, set up operations in Indianapolis soon after the announcement and officially began running Manual High School, T.C. Howe High School and Emma Donnan middle school in the late summer of 2012. Millions of Indiana tax dollars have since flowed to the company, which has received many good reviews for its work in Indianapolis.
But a recent hiring decision by Charter Schools USA is sure to raise eyebrows and questions about conflicts of interest, particularly now that Bennett is embroiled in a massive controversy centering on special treatment given to certain Indiana schools during his tenure