How Does Republican Education Czar Tony Bennett Make Sure Charter Schools Founded by Republican Supporters Get Good State Evaluations? - Easy Answer, He Cheats

And Admits It in His Own e-Mails

Charter schools are highly controversial because while seeming to be a program that improves education they also appear to be a program designed to accomplish a major Republican goal, undermining public education and teacher’s unions.  In Indiana the state’s highest education official was defeated in his re-election bid and then went to Florida to head up that state’s education system.  And now he has quit.

Tony Bennett resigned Thursday as Florida education commissioner following two days of controversy over school grades in his home state of Indiana.

He made the announcement at a news conference in Tallahassee late Thursday morning.

“The decision to resign is mine and mine alone, because I believe that when this discussion turns to an adult, we lose the discussion about making life better for children,” Bennett said.

Why did he quit.  Well it seems like that in Indiana he orchestrated the change of a grade of a charter school from a C to an A.  Why?  Well that particular charter school was sponsored by an individual who gave massive amounts of money to Republicans, including Tony Bennett. In fact grades of a number of schools were changed but

the emails clearly show Bennett's staff was intensely focused on Christel House, whose founder has given more than $2.8 million to Republicans since 1998, including $130,000 to Bennett and thousands more to state legislative leaders.

The e-mail correspondence is a smoking gun that shows Mr. Bennett did exactly what he said he did not do, cooked the books for the specific school.  When he learned of the problem there was this.

Bennett called the situation "very frustrating and disappointing" in an email that day.

"I am more than a little miffed about this," Bennett wrote. "I hope we come to the meeting today with solutions and not excuses and/or explanations for me to wiggle myself out of the repeated lies I have told over the past six months." (emphasis added)

Yep, that makes him guilty in just about any court.  And no one should be concerned about the future for Mr. Bennett, after a while his rich friends will find a nice job for him someplace, as long as they can keep that news quiet.  And then he can go on repeating his lies, no questions asked.