AP Exclusive: GOP Donor's School Grade Changed (cross-posted in Education)

[caraher]

Fucking criminals: Indiana "reformers" move the goalposts to make charters look good by changing the formula when anointed schools failed to perform. Smartest thing Indiana voters ever did was get rid of the hopelessly corrupt Tony Bennett - sorry, Florida, he's your nightmare now!

Big donor's pet charter failed to score the promised "A" under the state's school grading system. In fact, Bennett went ballistic when he learned what Christel House received initially, a "2.9, or a 'C'," mainly because only a third of 9th grade students passed the algebra test. Bennett demanded the school get an "A" because he'd been describing them as the model of an "A" school all year long...

When requested a status update Sept. 14, his staff alerted him that the new school grade, a 3.50, was painfully close to an "A." Then-deputy chief of staff Marcie Brown wrote that the state might not be able to "legally" change the cutoff for an "A."

"We can revise the rule," Bennett responded.

Over the next week, his top staff worked arduously to get Christel House its "A." By Sept. 21, Christel House had jumped to a 3.75. Gubera resigned shortly afterward.

Be sure to read the emails and other documents themselves...

Bennett's marching orders
Bennett admits to, and denies, being a liar
Fudging of grades declared complete
Check out the tables where they are proud of making charters look better
Some details of how they massaged their formulas

[d_r]

1. this is criminal

the e-mails show they are cooking the numbers to favor the charter schools, not just the Christel House, which was obviously the main focus. They were completely rigging this to support their pro-charter school position.

[BlueToTheBone]

2. criminals. n/t

[d_r]

3. I can't believe people aren't more upset about this

I think its a big deal.

[caraher]

4. Outrage fatigue?

It sure rips the mask off efforts to privatize schools in Indiana, and this is a cancer spreading across the nation. And even the Indiana Republicans I know who have any connection at all with the schools are very upset, and griping about their governor and the (fully Republican-controlled, with a supermajority) legislature's shenanigans to hamper Bennett's conqueror Glenda Ritz and her efforts to set things right again (they've been stripping her office as the state's top elected education official of every bit of authority they can).