Published: October 04, 2008 09:26 pm            

Local leader wants to change state system as Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction

From working with the New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated Schools Corp. to Greater Clark County Schools, Tony Bennett is well-known in the Southern Indiana area.

Bennett, who is running for Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction, also seems to be no stranger to others in the state, as he has raised more than $107,700 as of June 30, according to the most recent campaign finance documents filed with the state.

Bennett, who has worked as superintendent at GCCS since 2007, came from the county next door, after working as assistant superintendent for administration and operations.

The Republican candidate is seeking to fill Republican Suellen Reed’s position. Reed, who has held that seat for nearly 16 years, announced this summer that she would not be seeking another term.

“I am a person of action and I believe that if we are going to continue to make sure that Indiana is a land of opportunity for generations to come, we have to address how we educate kids,” Bennett said. “People should vote for me, because we will effect real change in Indiana that results in world class education for our students.”

One of Bennett’s ideas for creating that change involves making the Indiana Department of Education more of a resource for school districts, by having DOE hubs throughout the state that are more convenient to visit. Those would be in the state’s nine educational service centers. He said those will focus on customer service and providing resources to the various school corporations.

Another issue he said that needs to be addressed is the graduation rate, which is 76.5 percent for the state. Locally, New Albany and Jeffersonville high schools came in at 61.4 percent and 69.5 percent respectively.

“We need to make sure that when kids walk into school that they are there ready to learn,” Bennett said.

He said schools need to focus on where a child is at and take him to his highest ability. Bennett said excellence needs to be the goal.

As for the federal No Child Left Behind Act, where schools are required to make Adequate Yearly Progress or fail, Bennett said some tweaking is necessary.

GCCS, which Bennett managed this past year, failed to make progress, according to the 2007 Adequate Yearly Progress scores. However, it also failed every year the program has been in existence, according to the Indiana DOE.

“The No Child Left Behind Act, the entire piece of legislation, is intended to assert accountability in the schools. I maintain there is absolutely nothing wrong with that,” Bennett said.

The changes he said are necessary include focusing on making each child capable of competing against any other child across the United States and world for jobs and educational opportunities.

He said in addition to that, schools need to address the fact that they have students who come from all over the world, many of which cannot speak English fluently.

“We have to be sure we are offering all children a great education regardless of what barriers confront us when they come into our schools,” Bennett said.

As for property taxes, Bennett said he supports property tax caps, which would help homeowners while tightening the budgets of local government entities, including school corporations. He said that provides relief to property taxpayers and makes the local units of government work together to maximize dollars.

As Bennett campaigns across the state, he is also balancing his duties as superintendent at GCCS. He said he’s been working nights and weekends to accomplish both tasks.

Bennett said the office will change no matter who is elected, since the position will be changing hands for the first time in 16 years. However, he said if elected, he will remain focused on the goal.

“Our goal is again to address the challenges we face in education with a very positive vision-driven approach that says we can solve these issues and that Indiana students can compete against students from anywhere in the United States,” Bennett said.

As for having more people racing to the poles, either motivated due to the presidential or governor’s election, Bennett said he was not sure how that will effect his chances. He said he’ll leave the numbers to the political experts.



HOW HE GOT HERE:

• 2001 – 2007: New Albany – Floyd County Consolidated Schools — assistant superintendent for administration and operations

• 1999 – 2001: NAFCCS — principal of Prosser School of Technology

• 1997-1999: Scott County School District 2 — principal of Scottsburg High School

• 1993-1997: SCSD2 — assistant principal of SHS/ basketball coach

• 1992-1993: SCSD2 — assistant to the superintendent/ basketball coach

• 1991-1992: SCSD2 — biology teacher/basketball coach

• 1990-1991: Mohawk Local Schools (Sycamore, Ohio) — biology teacher/basketball coach

• 1983-1990: Providence High School — biology/science teacher (basketball coach 1987-1990)

        

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