Tony Bennett: Scandal, Resignation, and Cheating

Cheater or Reformer Tony Bennett?: Tony Bennett's resignation as Florida's commissioner of schools confirms disarray in Education Reform

If only Tony Bennett had stuck to the script of promoting Florida Scholarships sponsored by National Academy of American Scholars. Instead of staying focused, Tony Bennett veered off course. It didn't take long for Tony Bennet's alleged corrupt practices, and his refusal to promote important scholarship programs, to reach his new employer in Florida. On August 1st, 2013, after media scrutiny of his fancy grading system that benefitted a wealthy political donor, Tony Bennett resigned as Florida's commissioner of schools. Until recently, Tony Bennett had achieved a reputation as a national school reform leader. In fact, educational pundits even touted him as a rising rock star in the educational reform movement.

Although the voters of Indiana refused to renew his term in his re-election bid as school superintendent (Tony Bennett lost to challenger Glenda Ritz in the 2012 election), the same defeated Tony Bennett was hand-picked by Jeb Bush to become the Florida Education Commissioner. Brian Sandoval, the Governor of Nevada, hand-picked another failed member of the Bush entourage when he selected Jim Guthrie to become the Nevada Superintendent of Public Instruction. After less than 12 months, or thereabouts, Jim Guthrie resigned his top Nevada education job without explanation; and, he later expressed his opinion about the value of Nevada residents when he told the local Nevada media that the voters of Nevada didn't deserve to know why he resigned so early.

Tony Bennett loses election to Camilla-Parker-Bowles look-a-like

In this latest fiasco, the voters of Indiana favored a simple librarian in Marion County's Washington Township school district, Democratic challenger Glenda Ritz (a Camilla-Parker-Bowles look-a-like), over Republican incumbent Tony Bennett in the race for the Indiana state superintendent of public instruction on Nov. 6, 2012.

The privileged Jeb Bush, never known for his intellectual ability, has fashioned himself as an education reform leader. Bush was instrumental in the appointment of Tony Bennett as Florida's next education leader. Despite the mountain of complaints from residents in Indiana, and his failed effort to win re-election in that state, Tony Bennett was selected to become the next Florida Education Commissioner.

If the current allegations are true, and if we assume that his resignation is an admission of wrong-doing, then Tony Bennett has disgraced himself and many Indiana residents feel that he has cheated Indiana students. His actions deserve the same treatement as the March 2013 criminal indictment of Beverly Hall, another media-labeled rising star in education reform.

Tony Bennett Cheating Scandal Compared to Criminal Indictment of Big Beverly Hall of Atlanta

Although Beverly Hall and many of her African-American educator lieutenants were paraded before a national T.V., handcuffed, embarrassed, and indicted with numerous criminal charges for allegedly inflating grades, and altering standardized test scores, it is unlikely that the state of Indiana will be so tough on the fair-haired, tan, privileged, and socially-connected Tony Bennett. Not too many people can get fired in one state, and be promoted to a higher occupation in a different state.

Facebook commentators hailing from the Hoosier state have called the State of Indiana as corrupt, called the state of Florida corrupt, and referred to Tony Bennett as an embarassment to Indiana. In delivering the George Zimmerman verdict, Florida media pundits noted that Florida jurors applied a strict interpretation of Florida law in finding George Zimmerman innocent. Apparently, the law in Florida can be bent, twisted, and revised depending upon the identity and characteristics of the perpetrator. Not only does Florida now have the innocent verdict of George Zimmerman on its hands, Florida needs to address why Tony Bennett and his education lieutenants have not faced the same criminal charges, or similar ones, that have been levied against Beverly Hall of Atlanta. If electronic email indicate grade-tampering by Tony Bennett and his staff then why have the interests of Florida moms, mothers, women, and Florida students been taken into account?

Florida Education Association President Andy Ford
Responds to Selection of New Commissioner Tony Bennett

The Florida Education Association is disappointed and disheartened at the selection of Tony Bennett to be Florida's education commissioner. Bennett proved to be divisive in his tenure in the same position in Indiana and was voted out of office last month in the conservative state. He is a champion of the testing mania, unchecked expansion of charter schools and voucher programs and has proven to advance the Jeb Bush education agenda that has drawn fire from teachers, parents and experts in the field. That is the same approach that has led to a flawed and chaotic system in Florida that has frustrated parents and teachers alike. In Indiana, teachers and education professionals felt he was blaming them for all of the state's education woes.

We certainly hope he has learned his lessons by being rejected in Indiana. But we're skeptical. This decision does not indicate that the State Board of Education and Gov. Rick Scott understand that parents, teachers and those who question a flawed reform agenda deserve their voices heard and their insights and expertise incorporated into Florida's strategy for public education. The Board and the governor once again have ignored the parents and teachers of our state.

Cheating Allegations Against Tony Bennett

In a nutshell, Tony Bennett, the former head of Indiana's public schools, faces allegations of favoring a charter school backed by a major donor.

During his tenure as Indiana Superintendent for Public Instruction, media pundits report that suspicious emails associated with Tony Bennett create the apparent illusion that he publicly favored education reform for Indiana students and parents, when in fact he was secretly pushing to fatten the purses of major Republican donors. Critics argue that his tenure was even marked with racial disparity. For examle, when his reform theories were trained on minority schools, African-American critics allege that Tony Bennett was quick to level his axe; e.g., refer to the Indiana state takeover of Roosevelt High School in Gary, Indiana.

When it came to rich donors failing to make grade, suspicious email traced to Tony Bennett indicate he would take an entirely different approach. For example, emails published by the Associated Press indicate that Tony Bennett and his apparently corrupt Indiana staff scrambled last fall to ensure Christel DeHaan's school received an "A" despite poor 10th-grade algebra scores that initially earned it a "C."

After Bennett learned about a likely low grade for charter school Christel House, Tony Bennet sprang into action and fired off a Sept. 12 email to his chief of staff. In the email, the contents stated: "This will be a HUGE problem for us," Bennett wrote. "They need to understand that anything less than an A for Christel House compromises all of our accountability work."

Tony Bennett cut corners as Beverly Hall cut pies and chomped burgers

E-mails from the Associated Press indicate that Tony Bennett was willing to cut corners to create the illusion of excellent performance by entities and persons who were also recognized as large donors or operators of charter schools.

Whereas Beverly Hall may have been willing to cut pies, and chomp burgers, both Tony Bennett and Beverly Hall appear to share a common denominator: Inflate the performance of low-performing schools and/or mask the underperformance of schools. According to a criminal indicted released in March 2013. Big Bev (Beverly Hall), and many in her administration, were indicted in the spring on charges of racketeering and corruption. At least 35 Atlanta Public Schools educators and administrators were indicted.

By the time the indictment reached her, Beverly Hall had already "retired" because she most likely knew that her recipe for success was instead a phony diet with a 1000 calories, 0 proteins, 1 pound of sugar, and 1200 mg of sodium, and more hundreds of inflated low performing schools on steriods of deceit.

*Tony Bennett Hiring Compared to Pat Skorkowsky of the Clark County School District

When Pat Skorkowsky of the Clark County School District was hired as the Clark County School District on May 22, 2013, without full public participation, and despite a legal requirement that the public be allowed to weigh in on such important matters such as selecting a new Superintendent, a legal 21-page complaint was filed by parent Kevinn Donovan, of Henderson, NV. Like many us, Kevinn Donovan felt that when the seven-member Clark County School Board voted unanimously to appoint Pat Skorkowsky as the leader of the fifth-largest school system in America, the Open Meeting Laws of Nevada strictly applied. Such laws require public input on important matters of concern to Nevada residents, Nevada moms, Nevada women, and local residents, but were skirted by the Clark County School Board in its ambitious efforts to plant Pat Skorkowsky as a Superintendent of the Clark County School District.

In the case of selecting Tony Bennet, at least Tony Bennet can claim that his selection for the top Florida education post was valid and legitimate. Tony Bennet was selected among a pool of over 60 applicants to become the next Florida Education Commissioner while the suspicious Clark County Board of Education used a zero (0) pool of competing candidates when Board members made the choice of selecting Pat Skorkowsky. Time will tell if the Clark County Board of Education made the right choice or a corrupt choice.

Summary of Tony Bennett Cheating Scandal

The investigation of the Tony Bennett cheating scandal is ongoing, and new details are being developed daily. Florida Education Association President Andy Ford immediately denounced the selection of Tony Bennet as the new top chief of Florida education. In the state of Nevada, not a single top educator has denounced the selection of privileged Pat Skorkowsky, who apparently must be handed the position because he lacks the credentials to compete for the job. When the state of Nevada originally selected Dwight Jones as the next Clark County School District Superintendent, Dwight Jones was subjected to numerous interviews, numerous background checks, drug tests, and official interviews with no fixed agenda of a foregone conclusion. Dwight Jones was forced to compete against qualified candidates of his peers. Eventally, however, Dwight Jones still quit midway in his term, and was subsequently labeled as a Nevada Quitter.

On the other extreme hand, Pat Skorkowsky did not have to go through even 10% of what Dwight Jones faced, faced no competition, and he was still hired by the same dimwits that appointed Dwight Jones! By comparison, the selection of Tony Bennett more closely followed the hiring process of Dwight Jones. Eventually, Tony Bennett was appointed Rick Scott, the Governor of Florida.

The purpose of these comparisons is to illustrate how diverse states, whether Florida, Indiana, or Nevada, etc., can have widely different standards on appointing, nominating, or choosing top educators, and in implementing grades. This lack of a uniform process creates a gap for corruption to flourish. and how the choice will affect parents, and students.

Florida has been among the fastest states to adopt changes favored by education reformers, from school report cards to radical changes to teacher evaluations and tenure. Although Jeb Bush, an apparent groupie of Tony Bennett, expressed his approval of Bennett in the wake of the scandal, the resignation of Bennett will no not slow down the education reform effort in Florida. Florida Moms, women, and educators wiil devise ways for Florida to best implement Common Core State Standards, improve standardized testing tied to the core standards, and improve it's charter school voucher programs.

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