UPDATE: Several members of the Indiana Tea Party have written to say that they oppose Tony Bennett because of his support for Common Core standards. Jeb Bush supports Common Core, so of course, Tony Bennett supports them. And so do the Jeb Bush “Chiefs for Change.” But the Tea Party does not! Read the comments. The Tea Party supports local control.
So, let’s say that Tony Bennett’s desire to take control of local districts is just a power grab by a far-right politician.
Tony Bennett (not the singer) is State Commissioner of Education in Indiana.
He follows the ALEC/Jeb Bush script in everything he does.
Vouchers, charters, reducing or eliminating standards to become a teacher, for-profit schools, for-profit online “schools.”
Whatever ALEC wants, Bennett delivers.
He recently announced that he wants the power to take control of entire school districts, if in his judgement they are failing.
He says he believes in local control. He doesn’t.
He believes in power.
He believes in privatization.
Thats part of the ALEC script too.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Rather than personally taking them over, he could do as CT did and appoint a Special Master (that is the job title; I kid you not) who collects a massive salary and had special legislation written in on his behalf to get him an educator’s pensio. Even though he lacks the appropriate certification and years on the job.
A search of Steven Adamowski, on the Pelto’s blog or elsewhere, turns up some unsavory information that is all too familiar…
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That is what he would do.
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“Whatever ALEC wants, Bennett delivers”
Does that include higher standards for history and civics, which ALEC supported in 1988? Sandra Day O’Connor and David Souter would be on board with that!
“a discussion I hope the General Assembly has in 2013 is how we address systemic failure of districts”
This is a problem? Where is a cost-out and credible annotated bibliography helping districts fulfill their obligations to society?
Ohio’s 2009 reforms were adopted despite advocates’ ignorance of the best available evidence. Moreover, they declined David Sciarra’s invitation to come to New Jersey to see what works (despite relying on the “special master” from the New Jersey litigation).
Are we surprised to see ALEC react to NEA’s NCLB backlash and an advocacy agenda that inflates the cost of education while ignoring the cost effectiveness mandates of state constitutions?
If not ALEC, who is promoting an agenda that supports state legislators in fulfilling the mandates of their state constitution ed clauses and CERD, the racial discrimination treaty?
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Eric,
ALEC supports the privatization of public education. Is that a good civics lesson?
Shall we let the nation’s corporations decide what the Constitution says?
I prefer qualified teachers, not anyone who wants to teach.
Diane
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Eric, Do you also oppose local control? If Bennett takes over a school district, who is his watchdog? He can’t possibly know the situation in every Hoosier school district. Why should parents allow him to take over their schools?
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I am a citizen of Indiana who can assure you that Tony Bennett is far from a Tea Party candidate. Quite the opposite is true. His appearance before them is solely due to the negative publicity and criticism he has received from them, due to his support of the Common Core. Thus far, he has been unable to win them over.
To date, over 30 Indiana Tea Party and 9-12 groups have made Indiana’s withdrawal from the Common Core a number one priority. This is one area where Bennett is at odds with ALEC. Although he was called in to convince ALEC members to vote against model legislation encouraging states to opt out of the CC, he failed miserably.
Dr. Ravitch, I spoke to you on the phone several years ago about my opposition to Indiana’s
Voucher bill. You kindly offered to provide me with written testimony and put me in touch with PAA. Unfortunately, I was too late to the game.
Now, however, many conservatives are reconsidering their previous support of vouchers, as they learn of the Common Core strings that are attached. They are beginning to see vouchers as a sham that widdles parents’ choices down to only one – the Common Core. The debate about the Common Core, is giving birth to a new debate about vouchers.
Many teachers in Indiana express their disdain for the Common Core privately, but are afraid to speak out publicly because they fear for their jobs. They need someone of your stature to be their voice.
We are finding opposition to the Common Core to be the great uniter. Parents and teachers, liberals and conservatives, are coming together to express opposition to it. Dr. Bennett is having a difficult time defending his actions, since The Fordham Institute rated our Math and ELA Standards as “clearly superior” to the CC’s. The fight in Indiana is worth fighting, because if we were to withdrawal, many other states would follow suit. We need your help to put control of our schools back in the hands of parents, teachers, and local communities, rather than big corporations. Please join our crusade, before it is too late!
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Bennett called for a discussion. State takeover is just a proposed approach. Discussions weigh pros, cons, and alternatives–unless polarization takes over and there’s no real discussion. (A real discussion would make a good civics lesson!)
In Cleveland, voters supported mayoral control of schools. So a presidential swing state has a group of voters (heavily courted in a presidential race) who acknowledge they can’t handle the challenge of a school board election. (Is that a good civics lesson?)
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Mayoral control is a sham
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My Answer to your last question is NO!
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Please don’t paint the whole tea party as if we agree with Tony Bennett. We do not. There are teachers who oppose common core and want local control and who believe in the tea party, not as presented by some educrats like Bennett.
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As a member of a TEA Party group in Carmel, INdiana we DO NOT support Common Core or Tony Bennett. There is a coalition of over 30 TP groups who have come together to make this a priority. Dr. Bennett is very good at skirting the issues when you try to ask him questions. He continues to say that “Common Core is good for Indiana” but he fails to explain how or answer questions. One of those questions is regarding the fact the Sandra Stotsky and James Milgram, professors in ELA and Math, who were on the CC validation committee couldn’t sign off on Common Core because the standards weren’t high enough. Why would Indiana, who ranks one of the highest in the state, want Common Core. Could it be because Tony Bennett sits on the board of Council of Chief State School Officers who own the copyright to Common Core?? Tony Bennett is NOT a TEA Party candidate and at this point I’m not convinced he’s a conservative.
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I was under the impression the authentic tea party mantra was less government intervention in daily life, not more. Bennett wants more federal and private control enabled by governmental regulations/mandates, which goes against the authentic tea party goals.
Notice I say “authentic” tea party. Those tea party organizations supported by special interests and lobbyists, just like Michelle Rhee’s StudentsFirst, that go against “real” grassroot sentiment are to be called out for what they are.
I don’t see Bennett as a tea party educator. I see him as an elitist educator, along with Jeb Bush, Michelle Rhee, David Coleman, Arne Duncan, Marc Tucker, etc.
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OK, but I’m confused. Isn’t this exactly what we have been challenging KIPP to do? If it’s OK to make that challenge to KIPP, shouldn’t we be looking into supporting Pythias idea? Maybe Bennett & KIPP will get together on this proposal? Be careful what you ask for!
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there has never been a successful state takeover of a district. what are Bennett’s credentials for managing a district? None that I know of. But he can close the public schools and give the schools to Charter USA and other for-profit providers.
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This reply does not seem to address my question. a thread on your blog, on which I commented several times, challenged KIPP to take over a whole school district & offered one in New Jersey. hat seems to be what Bennett is proposing, though not necessarily with KIPP. My question is, ” If we challenged KIPP to do this, how can we now object to Bennett’s proposal?”. Aren’t they one and the same?
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OK then someone PLEASE tell me how to get these kids a QUALITY education. Please spare me the tired excuse that they need MORE money.
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They may need early childhood education; they may need a regular visit to a doctor or health clinic; they may need the arts.
It may cost more money.
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Asking for adequate funding for our children isn’t a “tired excuse” unless you believe the cliches and claptrap coming from a source like Fox “News”.
There has never been adequate and equal funding for all children of all US citizens. Read Jonathan Kozol for a detailed look at this.
If you think that the need for realistic financial support is some sort of “tired excuse”, maybe you need to learn and understand more about education. Could that be it?
Also, perhaps you can tell us how private, for-profit corporations, that are—as they should be!—on investor return and executive compensation are going to “help” our children?
When I studied microeconomics in college, I learned that private entities seek to maximize profit by minimizing costs and maximizing revenues. So, why WOULDN’T a private company hire the cheapest “teachers” available, give them little or no benefits, skimp on school maintenance, try to move as many kids to an “Online Only” status, eliminate school lunches, field trips, physical education and every other possible thing that the CFO decided was “unnecessary overhead”?
And just think of the “inventive” ways they’ll try and increase revenues: Advertising everywhere in the school—even the name itself. (Imagine your daughter at “Pepsi School #4”—to distinguish it from the other three “Pepsi Schools” in the district.)
Fees for “our books”; fees for “our supplies”; fees for “our uniforms”; fees for absolutely everything that once was free. And all of those fees marked up VERY generously to maximize profit.
Have you ever worked for a corporation? Then think about my question and answer it honestly. And then tell us how and why any corporate executive would risk his or her job by NOT cutting all costs to the bone and NOT looking for new ways to bring in more revenue?
You may hate public schools. You may hate teachers, particularly if they’re organized. But you’re being naive if you think our schools will suddenly improve if we just hand them over to amoral players who only care about getting as much as they can for their board, at the smallest cost possible.
That doesn’t sound like a place for our children to thrive.
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As a member, co chair of the Hamilton County Patriots, located in Noblesville Indiana I strongly disagree that Tony Bennett is in any way supported by or is associated with ANY tea party in Central Indiana. As a member of the Tea Party of Hamilton County I observed that Tony was very good at spouting his accomplishments but when ask questions that required critical thinking on his part he was flustered for the most part and would deflect questions that he should have had pat answers to. Take into account that he has a financial stake in Common Core and you have reason to suspect his motives in promoting Common Core to the detriment of our children.
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That’s a project. Financial disclosures- local, state and Federal. Might be fruitful though.
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What are the objections to Common Core?
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Google it…..there are many, many posts. Your exact words above: objections to the Common Core.
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click on the topic “common core” and you will find many posts
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OK, I read those posts and also visited the CC website, and I have a glimmer of understanding why many don’t like it. From the name, I had the initial impression it was like the U of Chicago’s Common Core curriculum. (I wonder if the K-12 name was chosen for that reason.) After reading further, I can see it’s nothing of the kind. Am I right that right now it only focuses on language arts and math? Or, to put it another way, it’s incomplete?
But states have adopted it anyway. It’s a bit like buying a car with only two wheels and one seat, with the expectation the remaining parts will be delivered on a date to be announced.
As ever, there is more testing. Reading the posts, I gather that in Florida, the FCAT will be shelved in favor of the new Common Core assessments. Has anyone addressed how the BOE will correlate the results?
So, now I can see why there are objections to Common Core.
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45 or 46 states have adopted CC. No one knows how it will work. It covers ELA and math. Recommends more informational text, less fiction. Everyone falling in line to be on the train.
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