Ackerman, 61, who has run the public schools in San Francisco, (2000-06) and Washington, D.C., (1998-2000) is up to the tasks, say those who know her.

"She's a very strong person, and you really need to be a very strong person to do such a complicated, important and thankless job," said Sherrie Rosenberg, who served as president of San Francisco's Parent Teacher Association during the first three years of Ackerman's tenure.

A source close to the CEO selection process said the School Reform Commission is expected to issue a statement today confirming Ackerman's selection, which followed months of negotiations among the four-member commission, Gov. Rendell and Mayor Nutter.

Rendell and Nutter are to hold a news conference on education today at 1:30 p.m. in the Mayor's Reception Room in City Hall and may speak publicly about Ackerman, though spokesmen for both declined to comment yesterday.

Ackerman, who did not return a call yesterday, was one of two finalists still under consideration for the CEO position - the other being Leroy D. Nunery II, 52, an education consultant who was once an executive with Edison Schools Inc., a for-profit company that manages public schools.

Nutter's insistence on doing thorough research on the candidates slowed the selection process, sources close to the selection process said.

"I think the one thing that she had over all the other candidates is that she's a former superintendent in a larger, urban district. I think that really helped her case, that she was an educator," said Martin Bednarek, a reform commission member.

The reform commission could vote on a resolution to hire Ackerman as soon as tomorrow's commission meeting, though the vote may come later after financial terms are negotiated, Bednarek said.

"It would really catch me off guard if we didn't have all the members voting on this - if this wasn't a 4-0 vote," he said.

Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said he was looking forward to working with Ackerman on school matters and the union's contract, despite her reported rocky relationship with the San Francisco teachers union.

"I'm gong to give her a clean slate. She's going to have an opportunity to work with the union," he said.

Regarding a statement Ackerman made last month advocating paying teachers more for working in hard-to-staff schools, Jordan was less agreeable.

"I'll talk to her about it across the negotiation table. All of our teachers work hard and all of the teachers deserve to be paid more," he said.

Gerald Wright, a parent activist, said he was hopeful that Ackerman will pay close attention to how the school district awards contracts, to make sure that they are truly benefiting students.

The fact that the reform commission has chosen anyone at this time will disappoint some.

After being announced as finalists last month, Ackerman, Nunery and Temple University education dean C. Kent McGuire - who has withdrawn from consideration - failed to spark much public support or enthusiasm. Some called for the CEO-search process to be reopened to attract other candidates.

Some complained that while in San Francisco, Ackerman clashed with the teachers union, some parent groups and three school board members.

Others, however, noted that test scores rose each year under Ackerman, and the budgets were balanced.

Ackerman also was credited with finding and ending massive corruption in that district's facilities department, recovering $56 million.

Last month, Ackerman told Philadelphia reporters that if selected she would put more social service programs in the schools and prove to lawmakers that she can manage the district's money before asking them for more.

In San Francisco and Washington, Ackerman won praise for introducing a weighted student funding formula, which is designed to provide equity in the distribution of funds to all schools based on student characteristics, such as poverty.

Earlier this month the Daily News reported that Ackerman was set to share in a $350,000 contract to help create a similar funding system for Philadelphia's schools.

In December, the reform commission approved a resolution awarding the contract to nonprofit Education Resource Strategies. The Watertown, Mass., firm hired Ackerman as a subcontractor.

Ackerman told the paper that her participation in the contract did not conflict with her CEO candidacy because her involvement had been halted until a CEO was hired.

Ackerman, who is divorced with two grown sons and three granddaughters, is a professor at Columbia University and is a superintendent in residence at the Los Angeles-based Broad Superintendents Academy.

Thomas Brady, the school district's former chief operating officer, has been serving as interim CEO since last summer. *