Tony Bennett wants to see accountability measures extended to Indiana school districts

Accountability measures for schools — including state takeover for those that consistently fail — have worked so well that lawmakers should consider extending them to school districts, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett said Tuesday.
In his third annual State of Education address at the Indiana Historical Center, Bennett celebrated what he said were the fruits of Indiana’s increasingly accountability-heavy reforms, including more students passing state exams, more high school graduates and more students taking advanced coursework.

Bennett said the reform lessons from his first term could be used to push accountability further. He is being challenged by Democrat Glenda Ritz, a teacher from Washington Township, in Nov. 6 election.

“In our efforts to turn around the state’s lowest performing schools, it has become clear that underperformance is often systemic, with problems rooted in district-level leadership,” he said before an invitation-only crowd of about 300 educators, lawmakers and others. “To make a greater impact on student performance where it is most desperately needed, Indiana should begin to explore expanding accountability to the district level.”



Cynthia Joffrion Grants