Teacher, challenger react to Dr. Tony Bennett's speech

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - On Tuesday Indiana State Superintendent Dr. Tony Bennett delivered his State of Education address via the internet. NewsChannel 15 got reaction from a local teacher and his challenger.

Overall, Bennett is happy with schools that are excelling. He said, "I'm proud to say Indiana is supporting its teachers like never before and we're treating them like the professionals they are." During his speech he said he'd like to unveil new teacher and district evaluations.

Teachers like Renee Albright watched to see where he wants to take education in Indiana. But after his speech, she doesn't feel that it's headed in the right direction.

"I almost was lulled into thinking you know this man has done okay and yet I had to remember wait a minute he left his share of bodies on the floor getting to some of those victories," South Side High School teacher Renee Albright said.

Albright said teachers are worked to death and students are constantly tested.

"I'm sad when I don't see joy in some kids faces because they're facing more testing. Testing is not education."

Glenda Ritz is running against Bennett this fall. She said pass/fail ISTEP testing doesn't show the true growth of students.

"I would replace that with a true growth measure for students. Educators really deserve and students deserve to actually be getting their education based upon their level of performance," Ritz explained.

If Bennett is reelected, Albright doesn't see him reducing the amount of testing anytime soon.

"You would have picked me up off the floor because I don't see any sign of that changing for him. He's getting accolades across the country because of that," Albright said.

Ritz told NewsChannel 15 testing in schools is needed.

"We need that kind of data on all students because we're going to be using that reading level information to be able to tailor education to individual students," Ritz said.

Watch Ritz's full response