Friday, October 29, 2010

Our children is learning alright. It's what Bennett is teaching that's the problem.

As NAC and Morton Marcus pointed out earlier in the week, much of the state level "reform" being foisted on Hoosiers by officials in Indianapolis is nothing more than a centralized power grab by those who implausibly claim to support reduced government intrusion.

That's certainly true in the realm of education. As the Tribune reports, Indiana Public School Superintendent Tony Bennett is traveling the state stumping for Republican candidates in order to gain control of the Indiana House hoping that same-party representatives will just roll when he and Saint Daniels make their pitch, the details of which they refuse to reveal until after the elections.

When Bennett was superintendent of Greater Clark Schools and not busy campaigning for higher office, he negotiated a contract for himself at over $130K per year, championed a $99 million building project, and assured parents that each part of the project would go on even in the face of cost overruns. All the while, the school system for which he was responsible failed to make adequate yearly progress according to standardized tests.

Since the source of his paycheck has changed, Bennett now says that public school employees have too much negotiating power, we spend too much on school buildings, and that administrative salaries should be tied to yearly progress benchmarks.

If Bennett is the type of hypocritical nitwit you want making decisions for schools in New Albany and statewide, then send Ed Clere back to the state house so he can help them get it done.

5 comments:

Iamhoosier said...

A good example of the Peter Principle.

RememberCharlemagne said...

I voted for Bennett last time but I will no longer support him as super and I know of others who feel the same.

Two out of the three issues I object to


Merit pay is stupid

And teachers don't have enough power.

For the life of me I don't know why all of a sudden teachers are the bad guys. I'm even disappointed with the President on his attack on teachers.

Goliath said...

Bennett wants to crush ISTA. That's job one for him. He's gotta go.

El Bastardo said...

RC, are you objecting to the concept of merit pay itself, or are you objecting to the concept of it being stupid?

RememberCharlemagne said...

Neither