Andy Gammill has an article in the Indy Star reporting on the dismal relations between (almost featured Creationist Evidence Speaker) State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Bennett, and the state teacher’s union. They seem to be communicating primarily via inflammatory press releases.
This reminds me a bit of a lesson I learned about communication early on in my legal career (probably earlier – it’s no big secret). I was exchanging letters with another attorney that were becoming increasingly contentious. I was about to escalate with another letter when it occurred to me how stupid we were being. I picked up the phone and had a very cordial conversation, and we resolved the issue which wasn’t all that intractable. The immediacy of speaking to one another tends to put a limit on bellicosity. Speaking in person even moreso. It’s easy to be a Big Man via e-mail.
That said, Bennett does come off looking ridiculous in one particular noted by the article. The State is in the process of applying for a federal “Race to the Top” education grant where there is a pool of about $4.4 billion available to the states. He wants teacher’s union leaders to endorse a plan that he won’t let them see.
Bennett held several meetings with union leaders but declined to allow them to see the proposal for the federal grant, saying that other states might steal the more innovative ideas. Both unions were then asked to write letters of support — for a proposal they had not seen.
Reminds me of Nixon’s secret plan to win the Vietnam War. But, then, I’m a cynic.
Bennett is the puppet of the person who views himself as the most brilliant person on the planet over the last 500 years, one
Mitchell E. Daniels (Extreme dose of sarcasm intended)
Mr. Bennett is suspect from many standpoints including a point that would encourage anyone interested have a heart to heart talk with people who worked with him in the schools where he has been or neighboring schools. Personally after having talked to serveral have not heard one person speak well on his behalf. He simply was making the right sound bites and was sweep in with Daniels and others. The Department of Education is a shell of what was prior to his coming on board. Try to get any answer to anything and find that almost all the “people in the know” are now gone—he has fired over 120 people at the middle and upper advisory positions. Who got the positions–appointees of his and Mr. Daniels from a wide variety of departmental backgrounds.
No doubt the world will survive Mr. Bennett but it may take years to repair the damages. At the time of the current crisises in education he is simply not the person to be at the helm.
I don’t know one teaching professional in the state – including my rock-ribbed conservative Republican friends – who think that he’s anything other than a Daniels puppet. (By the way, that includes a local state senator – REPUBLICAN!)
And if you find his behavior odd for a public schools superintendent so far, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. These people are gunning for teachers/ unions/ and public education. Ironic how they’re willing to use the state tools to dismantle the program.. at the same time as they tout “local control” on everything else.