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Ackerman: "I'm in perfect peace"

In Arlene Ackerman's first interview since taking a $905,000 buyout Monday to step aside, the departed superintendent tells Education Week that it was politics, not policy, that did her in.

29 comments

Ackerman: "I'm in perfect peace"

POSTED: Wednesday, August 24, 2011, 3:31 PM

In Arlene Ackerman's first interview since taking a $905,000 buyout Monday to step aside, the departed superintendent tells Education Week that it was politics, not policy, that did her in.

"There are people who wanted me to stay," Ackerman told reporter Christina Samuels. "Politicians and ministers said, 'I want you to stay,' "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 acknowledged that her missteps with awarding school contracts and running afoul of Mayor Michael Nutter helped lead to her demise. But she said it was when she sided with parents, rather than state representative Dwight Evans, over their choice of a charter provider for Martin Luther King High School, that her days became numbered.

"I was told then I was making a 'career decision,' " Ackerman said.

Because she believes her policies were never in question, "I'm in perfect peace," Ackerman said.

To read the full story, click here.

Annette John-Hall @ 3:31 PM Permalink | 29 comments

29 comments

Comments (29)

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 4:22 PM, 08/24/2011

yes, it's because you picked sides against Evans. Just like you picked sides when the Asians were attacked at South Philly HS. $1MM does buy peace. Good riddance.

— palmyra21

Comment removed.

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 5:32 PM, 08/24/2011

Of course she's at piece. She lied all summer about "going nowhere" when in secret she'd already jumped at the deal to be bought out. She held press conferences lying about not leaving. She induced an easily led group of parents to protest for her when she already knew she she heading eagerly toward the door. These same parents, having been used, are somehow angry at the SRC instead of the woman who's been manipulating them all along. What was the point of her little charade and why hasn't the press called her out on it?

— Devoted Teacher

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 4:29 PM, 08/24/2011

If I'd just gotten paid $905k to walk away from my job, I suppose I'd be "in perfect peace" too.

— aviator

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 4:35 PM, 08/24/2011

^ my sentiments exactly

— gramgol

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 4:36 PM, 08/24/2011

She has achieved a level of arrogance to which very few have ever ascended.

— geeknphillly

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 7:34 PM, 08/24/2011

You mean...'descended. This Acherman is an example of the de-evolving and dismantling of civilization, manners, morals, and all that made humans and humanity great. No....she is the perfect example of our slide into the abyss. Of the lower of standards....and the trashing of our values.

— Henry Howard Earl of Surrey

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 4:42 PM, 08/24/2011

Perfect peace. More like, I've got plenty of money to buy plenty of cake and tacky sunglasses.
Yeah, a million to go away. I think that is what you were hoping for back when you were caught saying you wanted your job for life back. Go get it Weesy. No one is stopping you? Your all a bunch of phonies, you and the SRC. It's not about improving education for the kids. It's about how to milk the school district as best as you can and spinning it around to make it look like you care. But, people are now catching on. Finally!

— revolter

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 4:49 PM, 08/24/2011

yea i would be in perfect peace too if you gave me 900.000...frikkin lowlife

— adamdude77

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 4:52 PM, 08/24/2011

Revolter, you're forgetting about the abundance of foliage she stuffed at her collar to detract from her face. Her money can keep her in flowers for her clothes. (Who does that, anyway?)

— snjgwmc

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 5:00 PM, 08/24/2011

Great, now the city has to pay an exorbent fee to get rid of their trash. What a parasite.

— marcie

Comment removed.

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 5:26 PM, 08/24/2011

Real revisionist history, Ackerman claiming to back parents in the Mosaica deal. And totally untrue. She in fact made it clear she had no faith in the parents' ability to make a decision.

It's a blessing she's leaving for the sake of the children, who will no longer be pawns in her extremely political maneuverings. Maybe the cost of her two drivers, bodyguard and at least half of her overstaffed, overpaid PR department will translate into more money for kids.

— Devoted Teacher

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 5:40 PM, 08/24/2011

People at peace don't feel the need to say it to the public. Their expression of contentedness speaks for itself.
People also usually say what they WANT to have--not what they ACTUALLY have. So, no, she is miserable.
I hope that they don't forget to make her pay the Philly wage tax and all that happy horse ....

— viragophilly