Benchmarks for Ackerman bonus withheld

Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman has received a $65,000 performance bonus, but the Philadelphia School District said the detailed criteria under which she earned the money were not public information.

In a statement, School Reform Commission Chair Robert L. Archie Jr. said Ackerman was evaluated on a series of performance goals and "exceeded all 21 benchmarks."

The Inquirer asked for the benchmarks on which Ackerman was evaluated and how she exceeded them, but the request was denied by Evelyn Sample-Oates, district spokeswoman. She said Ackerman's contract prohibited the release of the information.

The paper has filed a Right to Know request for the information under Pennsylvania's open records law.

Instead, the district Tuesday night released broad objectives as defined by the commission and a list of 26 accomplishments during Ackerman's nearly two-year tenure.

Generally, the superintendent had four major goals to meet: to accelerate achievement for all students and reduce achievement gaps "in a safe environment that promotes student learning"; to create an equitable distribution of resources across district schools; to create accountability systems for all adults in the district; and to include "family, community, and other stakeholders as partners" in raising student achievement.

The list of Ackerman's accomplishments released by the district ranged from producing a balanced budget to lowering class sizes. Other achievements cited include an increase in student test scores and the number of schools meeting state standards; implementation of a zero-tolerance policy for student discipline that resulted in more than 300 expulsions; and settlement of a 40-year-old desegregation case in court.

Ackerman's base pay of $325,000 was increased 4 percent to match a teachers' raise. The salary will go up 3 percent in September, when teachers receive another pay hike. With perks including the bonus, her compensation exceeds $500,000.

Ackerman's contract, signed in May 2008, states that the bonus will be awarded based on an evaluation of goals mutually agreed on by the superintendent and the commission. The superintendent gets a chance to list her accomplishments, and the commission deliberates in executive session and provides her a copy of the review, then discusses it with her.

"The performance evaluation shall be kept confidential by the SRC," the contract states. It does not state that the benchmarks must be kept confidential.

Terry Mutchler, executive director of the state's Office of Open Records, said her office did not have a pending Right to Know request about Ackerman's benchmarks.

But "as a general matter, contracts are public record, and just because the parties to a contract agree that they're going to keep it secret, that doesn't make it so," she said.

Ackerman gets 34 days of vacation and can trade up to four for cash annually. She also gets a BlackBerry and cell phone, plus a laptop, printer, and fax machine for home use.

Her compensation package is in line with that of former district chief Paul Vallas, who left Philadelphia to head the New Orleans Recovery District.

From the $65,000 bonus, Ackerman has committed to finance five scholarships and pledged $1,000 to the district's Widener School for disabled children.