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| Byron Ernest, SBOE Member selected by Brian Bosma |
New Indiana State Board of Education Member Politically and
Ethically Compromised
by Teresa Kendall
Bryon Ernest, one of the new Indiana State Board of Education
Members represents everything that is wrong with politics in Education. He is a political and ethical disaster
waiting to happen.
An often heard statement by many in the Indiana State Legislature
is "Take the Politics out of Education." Everyone claims the best of
intentions, "It's all about the students!" The recent
legislation to fix the so-called political problem on the Indiana State Board
of Education, SB1 allowed the Governor and the State Legislature to appoint
people that could work together in an idyllic, apolitical way. Speaker of the
Indiana House of Representatives, Brian Bosma, selected Dr. Byron Ernest, head of the virtual charter school Hoosier Academy, to the State Board of
Education. His appointment can only be described as a political punch in
the gut to anyone that had hoped that the new Board appointees would leave
their ideologies at home.
Dr. Ernest, a former Agriculture teacher in Clinton and Boone
counties was named Indiana's Teacher of the Year in 2010 and became friends
with Tony Bennett who was the Superintendent of Public Instruction. In
2011,when the State Board of Education took over the "failing" Manual
High School in Indianapolis, Ernest was later made the principal of the school
that was turned over to Charter Schools USA, a for-profit charter company.
Bennett used Ernest often during his tenure as the Teacher of the Year to
promote school choice, vouchers, the failure of public schools and anti-union
rhetoric. As you can see in this article from State Impact he
earned a reputation for being Bennett's mouthpiece across
the state.
Byron Ernest was principal of the Manual High School from August
of 2012 to January of 2014. There is some dispute about when he left.
Ernest claims he left at the end of the 2014 school year, I have it on
good authority from some of his former teaching staff that he was out due to
the school’s low grade at the end of 2013, not returning at the start of the
second semester. During the time he was principal of Manual High School,
the school grade was an "F." The grade for the school year
2013-2014 was a "D." Ernest leaves Manual at the end of 2013
and later in 2014 becomes the head of a virtual charter school, K.12's Hoosier
Online Academy, another for-profit charter school. Hoosier Online Academy
is also a failing school, earning
four straight years of F grades which means that K.12 should be out as the
company managing the school or at the very least the amount of money that goes
to the charter is reduced. With the closure of the school and the loss of
his job looming in the future, Ernest went to the SBOE at the March meeting and
asked the Board to give his school more time because of the special
circumstances of his students, such as illness or bullying in their home
schools. Even though these are the same circumstances that occur in regular
public schools that are not given any special consideration, the usual
"take care of Tony's friends" attitude prevails on the SBOE and
Ernest's second failing school was given a one-year reprieve for
survival. As decided in the March 2015 SBOE meeting, a determination and
another vote will be taken in regard to Hoosier Academy in 2016.
Some disclosure here - I have worked with Dr. Ernest in Boone
County both as a teacher and on committees. He is arrogant, judgmental
and cannot tolerate anyone that questions his opinions or his authority.
I am not alone in my opinion of him - just read some the comments to the
articles I linked. Byron Ernest has a very small fan club.
So now Dr. Byron Ernest, head of the failing Hoosier
Online Academy, leader of his second school with an "F," and friend of Tony
Bennett, gets appointed to the very board that will decide if he gets to keep
his job. There is stink all over this appointment. Bosma and Ernest
have some questions to answer. How can someone with this record be a part
of the very board that holds schools accountable? How can Ernest
ethically be allowed to take part in a vote that determines the future of a
for-profit company in which he is an employee?
Bosma should immediately rescind Ernest's appointment and he
should be replaced by and Educator without political connections
and compromised ethics.
