Ackerman blames the politics

Arlene Ackerman, who this week agreed to take $905,000 to walk away from her job as superintendent of Philadelphia schools, spoke today to the national publication Education Week about her ouster.

In the story, she said she "didn't feel good" about Mayor Nutter's ploy to put full-day kindergarten on the chopping block as leverage to get more state and city money to fill a $629 million gap in the district's budget. When she found the money to save full-day kindergarten - and announced the good news with little notice to the mayor - she said she "thought he would be happy ... but he was furious."

Ackerman also said her tenure started unraveling in March when she backed Mosaica Turnaround Partners to operate Martin Luther King High School over a group supported by state Rep. Dwight Evans.

We are awaiting a response from Nutter, who said he made calls to raise $405,000 in funds from anonymous donors to help buy out Ackerman's contract.

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