I hate to break it to defenders of former Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett, but last week’s report on Indiana’s tainted A-F grading system wasn’t “vindication” of the embattled education reform leader.
Before the Christel House grading mess, Bennett’s A-F scheme was bitterly criticized by teachers, school board members and others across the state. The concerns were so great that the Republican-dominated Legislature passed a law to revise Bennett’s vaunted scheme.
In a report commissioned by House Speaker Brian Bosma and Senate President David Long, two former respected state budget analysts Republican John Grew and Democrat Bill Sheldrake, pointed out numerous flaws in Bennett’s scheme.
They said Bennett and the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) “underestimated administrative and technical challenges” of the system; didn’t “contemplate all the numerous school configurations in place.” The report said, “a significant portion of the educational community did not understand or trust in the accuracy or fairness” of the system and didn’t believe the system treated “different school formats (public, private, charter) equally and fairly.”
The report said the system was “clearly compromised by the loss of key technical staff” which made for “inadequate time to perform quality control work” prior to the release of A-F grades.
That’s not vindication.
Indianapolis mainstream media played up Bennett’s declaration of “vindication” for him, but that’s not what the authors actually said.
Media outside Indy reported accurately Grew and Sheldrake’s conclusion that their report didn’t “vindicate” or “exonerate” Bennett and his staff; nor did their report condemn them.
On the Christel House grading kerfuffle, Bennett’s supporters say that because Christel House was perceived to be an excellent school it was in the report’s words “a quality control indicator”; a benchmark.
But never did Bennett or his IDOE staff publicly say they had a list of benchmark schools. Schools whose performance Hoosiers would say merited an “A” and if Bennett’s system found less than that it would signal a system problem or failure.
When Bennett’s A-F grades were released last October, there were a couple of glaring grades for top schools widely considered exemplary – private schools Oaks Academy and the International School of Indianapolis’ High School. The academic reputation of both has been stellar for years. Yet under Bennett’s system Oaks received a “C” and the International School a “B.”
Why weren’t those results considered out of the “norm”? Why wasn’t Bennett concerned about those two schools? I think you know.
According to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, House Speaker Bosma said in the future that individual schools shouldn’t be used as “benchmarks” to determine whether accountability grades should be changed.
Agree. I also agree with the report’s recommendation that any revision of the A-F grading system should involve a “pilot” test of schools to make sure the system works.
Indiana’s system for evaluating, classifying and grading K-12 schools shouldn’t be more complicated than calculus or programming TV remote controls.
That’s where Bennett and his staff failed. Let’s hope Gov. Mike Pence, Republican legislative leaders and State School Superintendent Glenda Ritz correct Bennett’s failure with an evaluation system that even fifth graders can understand.
What I’m hearing
in the streets
The Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and our Black community have had a strained relationship for years. Primarily on issues of the FOP defending cops accused of abuse of power against Blacks while slow to defend Black cops accused of wrongdoing.
The other contentious issues are FOP’s seeming intransigence against increasing recruiting of and promotion of Blacks and other minorities.
But the growing crisis in public safety in Indianapolis has the FOP reaching out.
Interviewed on WTLC-AM (1310’s) “Afternoons with Amos” last week, FOP VP Rick Snyder said IMPD is in crisis.
“IMPD is aging,” said Snyder. “Some 40 percent of the force is eligible to retire now. IMPD’s average age is 40.” More ominous, just 120 of IMPD’s 1,550 officers are under age 30.
The FOP strongly believes Indy residents would approve a small tax hike IF the money specifically went to public safety. Snyder told me the city must get serious about recruitment and promotion of officers; double the number of yearly recruit classes and invest dollars to be aggressive at recruiting cops from other departments and recruit more minorities.
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Was a board backlash over ethics why Dr. Peggy Hinckley left suddenly as interim Indianapolis Public Schools superintendent?
Seems Hinckley was maneuvering to have IDOE name a consulting associate of Hinckley’s, Dr. Pat Davenport, as the “lead partner” over George Washington High School, which is under state supervision, but not direct takeover.
The State Board of Education approved Davenport’s contract with IDOE and IPS; but the IPS Board hadn’t formally considered the plan.
Hinckley and Davenport have worked with IDOE to train officials at some 130 Indiana schools on a training effort pioneered by Davenport and used by Hinckley when Hinckley ran Warren Township’s Schools.
Because of board pushback, and since her contract was about to run out anyway, Hinckley left early.
IPS doesn’t have firm ethics and conflict of interest policies. That oversight should end!
As new Superintendent Dr. Lewis Ferebee comes on board, the IPS Board should develop clear, concise, effective conflict of interest and ethics policies.
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At a time when Indy’s daily newspaper is reducing the number of reporters, Indy’s TV stations are increasing. That’s one thing listeners to our “Afternoons with Amos” learned from last week’s broadcast from the WRTV/Channel 6 newsroom. During the broadcast, station officials told me they’re adding additional investigative reporters plus adding newscasts weekend mornings.
At a time when the daily newspaper has no African-American non-sports reporters, Channel 6 has more than any other station.
News Director Terri Cope-Walton and her staff also encouraged feedback on story ideas and events.
See ‘ya next week!
You can email comments to Amos Brown at acbrown@aol.com.
