Emails show Florida education chief changed Indiana grading formula to benefit donor's school
Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett defended himself Monday against a report that he deliberately improved the letter grade of an Indiana charter school run by an influential Republican donor when he was still that state's schools chief.
In a widely circulated story Monday, the Associated Press reported that Bennett scrambled last fall to overhaul Indiana's school grading system to change a charter school's grade from a "C" to an "A." Emails show a behind-the-scenes effort to alter the grade for Christel House Academy, despite questions from Bennett's staff about whether such a move was legal.
In one email, Bennett wrote, "They need to understand that anything less than an 'A' for Christel House compromises all of our accountability work."
In another, he wrote, "This will be a HUGE problem for us."
The charter school's founder, Christel DeHaan, has given more than $2.8 million to Republicans since 1998, including $130,000 to Bennett, according to the AP. DeHaan told the AP that she never asked for any special treatment.
Bennett told the Times/Herald Monday that Christel House was among the top-performing charter schools in Indiana. If it hadn't earned an A, that meant something was wrong with the entire grading system, he said.
"It had nothing to do with politics," he said.
Bennett said that Indiana was in the midst of finalizing its school grading formula when the email exchange took place. He said he had hoped to use high-performing schools like Christel House to calibrate the system.
"We needed to make sure the school grades reflected how the schools really performed," he said.
The Associated Press story comes at a difficult time for Bennett.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/emails-show-florida-education-chief-changed-indiana-grading-formula-to/2133801
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