A Tale Of Two Michelles: Rhee And Malkin

Michelle Malkin took it to Tony Bennett in a Townhall post today:

The resignation of Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett couldn't have come at a better time. His disgraceful grade-fixing scandal is the perfect symbol of all that's wrong with the federal education schemes peddled by Bennett and his mentor, former GOP Gov. Jeb Bush: phony academic standards, crony contracts, big-government and big-business collusion masquerading as "reform."

Bennett stepped down Thursday after the Associated Press reported that he had meddled with charter school accountability ratings in Indiana last fall while serving as that state's schools superintendent. The beneficiary of his intervention? Big GOP donor and charter school operator Christel DeHaan, who has forked over nearly $3 million to Republicans (including $130,000 to Bennett).

...

Emails showed that Bennett was far more concerned about how a low grade would look than about maintaining the integrity of the grading system. Evaluators "need to understand that anything less than an 'A' for Christel House compromises all of our accountability work," Bennett complained. "This will be a HUGE problem for us," he worried in another message obtained by the AP.

Cronyism and corruption come in all political stripes and colors. As a conservative parent of public charter school-educated children, I am especially appalled by these pocket-lining GOP elites who are giving grassroots education reformers a bad name and cashing in on their betrayal of limited-government principles.

It turns out that Bennett's wife was hired by an outfit called "Charter Schools USA" to serve as a regional director in Florida. The group just happens to be the same one Bennett contracted with to operate schools in Indianapolis that the state had taken over. The Indianapolis Star reported: "Tina Bennett is now earning a paycheck from the company her husband handpicked to take over schools in Indiana, a decision that was very good for the company's financial fortunes." Like the Church Lady said: How conveeeenient!

Michelle Rhee embraced Tony Bennett yesterday:

Tony Bennett, Florida’s education chief, abruptly resigned yesterday after an AP investigation revealed that in his old job running Indiana’s schools, he frantically overhauled the state’s evaluation system to avoid giving a poor grade to a charter school run by a prominent Republican donor. In addition to his charter school advocacy, Bennett was also known for his staunch support of standardized testing.

Emails obtained by AP showed that Bennett and his staff scrambled to make sure the donor’s school received an “A” grade, despite it initially earning a “C” thanks to poor test scores. “They need to understand that anything less than an A for Christel House compromises all of our accountability work,” Bennett wrote in September to his chief of staff, who is now Indiana Gov. Mike Pence’s chief lobbyist.

Despite the controversy (Bennett calls the charges “malicious and unfounded,” saying he decided to resign within days of the AP’s report only so he could avoid becoming a “distraction”), Bennett has plenty of defenders in the school reform movement.  Here’s Michele Rhee, the former D.C. schools chancellor who has become a patron saint of school reform, and one of its most vocal advocates with her StudentsFirst advocacy group:

Bennett’s leadership in IN showed his commitment to kids. With better grad rates & fewer failing schools, IN kids benefited from his tenure.
— Michelle Rhee (@MichelleRhee) August 1, 2013

The fundamental dishonesty of Michelle Rhee is on display here. 

Bennett changed grades for a charter school to a) make the school look good and b) to make sure a Republican donor would stay happy and donating. 

Rather than take Bennett to task for undercutting his own accountability movement, Rhee chooses to ignore the controversy and instead defend his tenure as leader of the Indiana school system.

Can you imagine what Rhee would have said had a superintendent with ties to a union had the grade of a traditional public school changed?  Or a charter school run by a union (like the UFT's charter school)?

Of course we shouldn't be surprised by this, since Rhee has done everything she can to cover up the cheating that took place under her leadership in DCPS rather than demand a full investigation of those years so that "real" accountability can take place.

Contrast Rhee's defense of Bennett with Malkin's all-out attack on both Bennett and his patron, Jeb Bush:

Instead of condemning his actions, the tone-deaf, ethics-blind Jeb Bush heaped praise on Bennett for his "leadership" after his resignation. Bush's nonprofit vehicle, the Foundation for Excellence in Education, chimed in, as well, calling Bennett a "bold champion for students" and "a good man and a good friend."

These good ol' boys bonded over their zeal for the top-down racket known as Common Core. As I've reported previously, this Fed Ed program is supported by both big-business interests (Microsoft founder Bill Gates and News Corp. founder Rupert Murdoch's education arm) and government educrats. Progressive activists in both parties have worked on nationalized standards, tests and curriculum for decades under previous names: outcome-based education, national school-to-work, Goals 2000 and No Child Left Behind, for example. Obama administration bribery through "Race To The Top" greased the wheels for adoption of the Common Core program by cash-strapped states, many of which had more rigorous standards than the fed-imposed system.

Common Core cheerleaders falsely claimed that untested standards were "internationally benchmarked." Math and English standards have been dumbed down. And a plethora of data-mining firms stand to gain billions from student information gathered under the Common Core assessments umbrella. The Obama administration's sabotage of federal educational privacy protections will help supply that data to the highest crony bidders.

After Bennett was voted out of office in Indiana last fall over his efforts to ram the phony "standards" and nationalized testing scheme through, Team Jeb came to the rescue. In addition to greasing the wheels for the Florida schools chief job, Bush's foundation named Bennett one of its "Chiefs for Change." That group champions Common Core, and many of its members are part of a behemoth, federally funded testing consortium called PARCC (the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers), which raked in $186 million through Race To The Top to develop nationalized tests "aligned" to the top-down Common Core program.

Bush's foundation has now joined with the Common Core-peddling Fordham Institute under a new phony-baloney umbrella group: "Conservatives for Higher Standards." While its list of supporters includes federal bureaucrats, politicians and business interests, there are no grassroots conservative parents or teacher groups. So beware of this "conservative" front. And remember: Astro-turfing runs in the Bush family. Under George W. Bush, the federal Department of Education paid GOP mouthpiece/columnist Armstrong Williams to shill for No Child Left Behind.

A devastating critique from Malkin of the Republican ed reform brand as represented by Bennett and Bush.

Too bad the "Warrior Woman" of education reform, Michelle Rhee, couldn't be so brave and honest in her assessment of Bennett and Bush.

But then again, when you're on the payroll, it's hard to be brave and honest, isn't it?

Common Core Opponents Give It To Idaho Governor/Common Core Shill Tom Luna

Idaho governor Tom Luna has long been a proponent of corporate education reform - and given the money he has received from testing companies, why wouldn't he be?

Yesterday Luna, a Republican, heard from people who are from his own party why they are suspicious of the Common Core State (Sic) Standards:

COEUR d'ALENE - A group of North Idaho opponents of the Common Core initiative went head-to-head Thursday in Coeur d'Alene with one of the effort's leading proponents, Idaho public schools chief Tom Luna.

The event, an informational meeting organized by Tea Party leader Pam Stout of Bonner County, attracted about 35 people to the Coeur d'Alene Public Library.

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Throughout Luna's presentation, he was confronted by people in the crowd who shouted out comments, often challenging what Luna, the highest elected education official in Idaho was saying about the core standards.

"Everything about this is by Bill Gates," yelled a man.

He interrupted Luna at a point when Luna was telling the group that Idaho's higher education leaders say that with the new standards in place, they believe the state's high school graduates will be college-ready and will not require remedial course work before they are able to take college-level classes. About 50 percent of college entrants in the state now require remediation before they can earn college credits.

Stout asked the audience members to withhold their comments and questions until Luna finished his presentation.

Luna tried to address one of the core standards' detractors chief complaints - a perception that the standards are heavily influenced and controlled by the federal government, that they represent a federal curriculum. Luna told the group that under the Constitution the federal government has no role or authority over education.

"Then explain the U.S. Department of Education," shouted out an audience member.

Audience members said the standards are too low, that they don't aim high enough.

Some people at the meeting indicated they believe textbook publishers are in collusion with the developers of the Common Core, that corporate interests are driving the effort and the curriculum.

Several times, Luna asked the audience members to review the standards, which can be found on the state education department's website, and tell him which ones they think are too high or too low. He said he has asked various groups this question, and has never heard a specific complaint about any of the standards.

Maureen Paterson, from outside Priest River in Bonner County, handed out fliers at the start of the meeting. The headline topping a list of "documented facts" handed out by Paterson was "Common Core = Obama Core."

During the meeting, Paterson shared a concern of many core standards opponents.
She said that if teachers are being evaluated based on student assessments connected with the core standards, the curriculum will ultimately be driven by the standards. Therefore, Paterson reasoned, local control of curriculum is affected by the core standards.

Another woman said businesses that develop curriculum are already aligning themselves with the standards.

"They've always aligned their curriculum to state standards," Luna said.

He said that Idaho is too small, that it doesn't have the funding to develop an assessment as robust as the one that accompanies the core standards. The test has been developed by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, represented by a group of Common Core states, including Idaho.

Luna said several times that local districts retain control over their curriculum under the standards.

Linda Yergler, a trustee in the Kellogg School District, said she sits on her district's curriculum committee.

"When I ask if we can pick our own textbooks, they say we can't," Yergler said. "If we have local control, I would be a really happy camper, but it's less and less."

A person complained that the standards haven't been tested, that they don't know if they'll be good for students.

"What we do know is that every time we raise standards, performance goes up," Luna said.

Before raising similar complaints to those previously discussed, a man who spoke late in the meeting described himself as a Tea Party member.

"I'm a fan," said Luna, a Republican, before the man continued.

At the end of the meeting, Luna told the group he was sorry if he "got a little defensive" during the presentation, and said he appreciates that they came out and shared their opinions.

Some things of interest in this.

First, notice how these are Tea Party people - some of whom are "fans" of Luna - who nonetheless do not like Common Core are attacking Luna over it.

It is becoming more and more difficult for the Republican Party to hold together their constituencies - the corporate education reformers like Luna and Bush and Christie are getting more and more challenges from their own right flanks.

Second, notice the complaints people were raising - they're legitimate ones. 

Teachers will have to teach to the standards because they will be evaluated with tests that use the standards.  Textbooks and curriculum can no longer be chosen locally. The tests will be national tests since Idaho cannot afford to make its own. 

The main critique here is that since the standards have been promoted from Washington, they constitute a national curriculum that destroys local control.

It's hard for Common Core supporters to argue that the CCFS do not constitute the nationalizing of the curricula when these new standards force teachers to teach only what they will be evaluated on (i.e., the standards), local boards lose control of the curricula and textbook choices, and the state cannot give its own test but must join a consortia of other states and give a national test.

It doesn't seem like Luna won too many people over to his side at that meeting - indeed, when he apologizes for being "defensive" over the Common Core, you know he's feeling pressure over it.

With the news that Ohio is looking to repeal the Common Core, with Indiana and Michigan putting a stop to Common Core implementation, and with Tony Bennett - Common Core proponent extraordinaire - out of his job in Florida for cheating over test scores, things are starting to get rough for Common Core supporters.

I asked last night where we'll be in five years with these Common Core standards.

As we see more and more attacks mounted from both right and left on the standards, it's hard to see how many states are still using them five years down the road - especially as more and more states pull out the assessments tied to the standards too.

Now We Know What Tony Bennett Means By "No Excuses!"

Another education reformer exposed as a cheater and a liar - Chiefs For Change chief, Tony Bennett:

INDIANAPOLIS — Former Indiana and current Florida schools chief Tony Bennett built his national star by promising to hold "failing" schools accountable. But when it appeared an Indianapolis charter school run by a prominent Republican donor might receive a poor grade, Bennett's education team frantically overhauled his signature "A-F" school grading system to improve the school's marks.

Emails obtained by The Associated Press show Bennett and his staff scrambled last fall to ensure influential donor Christel DeHaan's school received an "A," despite poor test scores in algebra that initially earned it a "C."

"They need to understand that anything less than an A for Christel House compromises all of our accountability work," Bennett wrote in a Sept. 12 email to then-chief of staff Heather Neal, who is now Gov. Mike Pence's chief lobbyist.

The emails, which also show Bennett discussed with staff the legality of changing just DeHaan's grade, raise unsettling questions about the validity of a grading system that has broad implications. Indiana uses the A-F grades to determine which schools get taken over by the state and whether students seeking state-funded vouchers to attend private school need to first spend a year in public school. They also help determine how much state funding schools receive. A low grade also can detract from a neighborhood and drive homebuyers elsewhere.

GOP donor's charter school is getting a "C" instead of an "A" on its school report card?

"No problem!" says Chief For Change chief Tony Bennett, "we'll change the formula and make sure that donor - who's given over $2.8 million since 1998 - gets his A"!

The change in formula still doesn't get the school an A?

"No problem!" says Chief For Change chief Tony Bennett, "we'll just change the formula again and make sure it's an A!"

I'd say this story is unbelievable, except that it's not.

Another education reform "hero" exposed as a crook and a liar.

Rhee and Bennett - Chiefs For Cheating.