Rendell defends salaries of Ackerman, Greene

Gov. Rendell is paid $167,850 less than Philadelphia schools chief Arlene Ackerman and $135,850 less than Philadelphia Housing Authority executive director Carl R. Greene.

On Monday, the governor defended both salaries, and urged people to put the cash paid to Ackerman and Greene in perspective.

"Arlene Ackerman presides over a system with 200,000 students," Rendell said, responding to a question at a news conference about transportation funding. He said there were districts outside Philadelphia with 5,000 to 10,000 students "where superintendents get paid almost as much."

Actually, the next-highest-paid superintendent in the Pennsylvania suburbs is Abington chief Amy Sichel, according to the most recent data from the Department of Education.

In 2008-09, Sichel was paid $238,601. Ackerman collected $325,000 that year.

Sichel was named Pennsylvania's superintendent of the year in 2010 for her leadership of Abington, which has about 7,500 students.

Nationwide, Ackerman's salary is bigger than those of the chiefs of the five largest school districts in the country - New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami-Dade, and Clark County, Nevada.

Ackerman has defended her salary and benefits package, saying she was lured out of retirement to turn around a tough urban school system because she gets results and deserves to be compensated accordingly.

Ackerman was also paid a $65,000 bonus this spring, but she refused to disclose the details of her performance review, which her contract says the district must keep secret.

Rendell said paying a bonus is fine by him.

"I only have a problem with bonuses if they are not tied to performance," he said.

Ackerman's bonus was based on criteria set by the School Reform Commission, which said she exceeded all benchmarks.

Greene remains on leave amid questions about his personal finances and sexual harassment claims filed against him by employees.

In his comments, sports fan Rendell turned to a baseball analogy.

Most big-league players make about $5 million, he said, but some earn more.

"You have to look at the field," said Rendell.

The governor noted that he runs a business with 76,000 employees. Most chief executives make "10 to 50 times more than I do."

But don't cry for him, he added.

"I chose my line of work," Rendell said.