Former state schools superintendent Tony Bennett is returning to political office as a member of a southern Indiana county council.
Republican precinct committee members voted Wednesday to appoint Bennett to a vacant Clark County Council position.
Bennett tells the News and Tribune that his family’s roots are in Clark County and sees the position as a chance to serve.
Bennett was the Greater Clark County Schools superintendent when he was elected state schools chief in 2008. He became Florida’s education commissioner following his unsuccessful 2012 re-election bid, but resigned after The Associated Press published emails showing he changed Indiana’s school-grading system to benefit a top Republican donor’s charter school.
The Indiana inspector general also found he used his office staff and state-issued SUV extensively for political work.
