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http://posttrib.suntimes.com/21786389-537/...-f-formula.html

INDIANAPOLIS — State education officials have discovered “manipulation” in the state’s school grading formula as part of an ongoing review following the grade-changing scandal which cost education star Tony Bennett his job as Florida schools chief.

Indiana School Superintendent Glenda Ritz said Wednesday her office’s review has uncovered changes to how schools were categorized, but she declined to explain what she meant by “manipulation.”

Bennett resigned last week, a few days after emails were published by The Associated Press showing his efforts to overhaul Indiana’s school grading formula after a charter school run by Republican donor Christel DeHaan scored a “C.” Bennett has maintained he gave no special treatment to DeHaan’s schools and called last week’s report “malicious and unfounded.”

“Upon our preliminary examination, the department has verified that there was manipulation of calculation categories and the Department has also determined that there are broader issues that need to be examined,” Ritz said Wednesday following a meeting of Indiana’s board of education.

Ritz brought up the topic at the meeting, but Bennett’s allies on the board had little to say. She was scheduled Wednesday afternoon to meet with Indiana’s Republican legislative leaders, who have started their own investigation.

Leaders in the national education overhaul movement, who helped build Bennett into a star following Indiana’s passage of sweeping education changes in 2011, flocked to his support in the wake of the scandal. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush penned an op-ed for the Miami Herald in which he blamed political opponents for Bennett’s demise.

The scandal has also put a new focus on school grading systems, pushed by leaders like Bush as a means of holding schools accountable. The grades are used in part to determine school funding, teacher pay and establish if “failing” schools are turned over to charters for operation.

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http://www.wsbt.com/news/wsbt-report-on-in...0,2369337.story

TOM LoBIANCO, Associated Press

12:44 p.m. EDT, September 6, 2013

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A legislative review has found former Indiana state schools superintendent Tony Bennett changed the grade for a charter school as a matter of "quality control" amid broader problems in the development of Indiana's "A-F" school grades.

The Indiana General Assembly's Republican leaders appointed two analysts to review the state's grading system. The pair released their findings Friday after spending the past month compiling the review.

They found that Bennett's technical staff was overburdened developing the grades. They also reported widespread distrust in Bennett's system among the education community, but say the Christel House school in Indianapolis didn't receive special treatment.

Bennett resigned as Florida's schools chief last month, a few days after The Associated Press published emails showing the grade changes for the school run by a Republican donor.

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http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-an...05320d7bd5.html

By Dan Carden dan.carden@nwi.com, (317) 637-9078

INDIANAPOLIS | House Democratic Leader Scott Pelath wants to know why it's taking so long for the state ethics watchdog to determine if Republican Tony Bennett, the former superintendent of public instruction, improperly manipulated school grades prior to the 2012 election.

In a letter sent Tuesday to Indiana Inspector General David Thomas, Pelath asks what Thomas and his staff of 14 have uncovered after more than two months of investigating. Pelath also requests they share their timeline toward a final report.

"I personally don't see any sense of urgency," said Pelath, D-Michigan City. "There were two volunteer reviewers that managed to find out an awful lot in a few weeks."

That Legislature-sponsored review of Bennett's grade changes determined last month the superintendent's actions were "plausible" due to gaps in the rating standards for schools with nontraditional grade groupings.

Bennett's changes, which were not approved by the State Board of Education, boosted the grades of 165 schools, including 22 in Northwest Indiana, and an Indianapolis charter school set to received a C that Bennett had long touted as one of the best in the state.

In July, Bennett resigned as Florida schools chief when the grade changes were uncovered. He requested the inspector general confirm he did nothing wrong.

Pelath said Hoosiers have waited long enough for the inspector general's report and deserve to know why Bennett changed the grades, not just how he did it.

"I'm starting to question whether that office is able to handle something of this magnitude," Pelath said. "Accountability is more important now than ever because we have a nationally very unpopular crew that is in charge of every aspect of state government."

Thomas told The Times that he cannot talk about pending investigations, but acknowledged he is working on the Bennett matter.

"We are being very thorough and we're going to try to conclude it as quickly as we can," Thomas said. "We want to make sure and give it its proper due -- there are multiple issues and we are actively investigating them."