Arlene Ackerman, who resigned Monday as superintendent of the 155,000-student Philadelphia district, said in an interview with Education Week Wednesday that political miscalculations led to her removal, not issues with job performance.
"There are people who wanted me to stay. Politicians and ministers said, 'I want you to stay,' " Ackerman said. "But if your boss does not want to work with you, and they're willing to pay you a million to step aside—that's how much they don't want to work with you—then what can you do?"
Ackerman received a $905,000 buyout to resign; $500,000 came from the school district, and $405,000 from private anonymous donors, which is raising some eyebrows among advocates for open government.
In February, the city's School Reform Commission, which oversees the district, reviewed Ackerman's job performance. At that time, the commission was pleased enough with her job performance to extend her five-year contract, which had two years remaining on it, for an additional year. In a statement, the commission noted academic improvements in the district and said it wanted stability while reform efforts were underway.
(For about 10 years the district has been run not by an elected board, but by a five-member commission; three appointees are selected by the governor, and two are selected by the mayor. Clarification: Many thanks to reader @arieswym who let me know that the SRC replaced what had been an appointed school board in the district. Philadelphia has never had an elected school board.)
NOTE – Please click on the link above to read the story in its entirety. There are lots of interesting reader's comments and links, including a link to a YouTube channel created by Ms. Ackerman.
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