Ackerman denied unemployment
Complete coverage of the Philadelphia School District by the Philadelphia Inquirer's Kristen Graham.
Ackerman denied unemployment
Kristen Graham
Arlene C. Ackerman's unemployment claim has been denied by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor, according to multiple sources. (File Photo / Staff)
UPDATE, 6 p.m.:
Arlene Ackerman has confirmed that her unemployment claim has been denied. In an e-mail to The Inquirer, she wrote:
"I got the letter more than three weeks ago. Though encouraged to do so, I decided not to appeal the decision. I am moving on and Philadelphia is a closed chapter in my life. I pray for the children of Philadelphia.....that is all that I can do now."
EARLIER:
Arlene C. Ackerman's unemployment claim has been denied by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor, according to multiple sources.
Ackerman, the controversial former superintendent of schools, left the Philadelphia School District in August after a bitter public battle over leadership and finances. She received a buyout approaching $1 million, then drew public ire by applying for unemployment benefits.
The Philadelphia School District, in its separation agreement with Ackerman, had agreed not to block Ackerman's unemployment claim. Had the unemployment benefit of about $500 per week been granted, the district would have been on the hook for that money.
Citing privacy rules, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Labor said she could not comment on individual unemployment claims.
But people with knowledge of the situation said that Ackerman's claim was denied.
Ackerman could not immediately be reached for comment.
Comments (65)
I love the "Jazz Hands" picture. There should be prison bars in front of the picture lol
— I, justsweepdafloor- — FISHTOWNGUY
You may be a racist sir, only you can answer that question, but Arlene was married to white man, so how could she hate white people???????Do your homework and read your posts before you hit the submit button.
— LadySLR - this is great another black leader?? i have several family members and they have met with ackerman and she is a self centered BLACk female who hates white people i quess iam a rascist to tell the truth she had the fin balls to apply for unemployment benifits blacks should be ashamed she should have been charged in the fraud with her relative on the books will she is black in a black run city just like chicago
— FISHTOWNGUY - Blame the SRC.
brinsley (TM) (the original)— brinsley - Can this please be the last of news about Ackerman, and get on with real serious problems addressing the school system!!!— Dadair1
- A win for the hometeam; we don't win many but...— paulfromtheoblongtable
- You only get unemployment if you are UNEMPLOYED and you must also be living in Pennsylvania. I believe she is now living in Arizona. Thank goodness she didn't get it.— houndstooth
- Goodbye to bad rubbish, but how the children of Philadelphia PS doing these day? No, don't bring her back but someone in able to run a major city PS system. Most teachers are just here for a paycheck, they have lost the dedication they once had. God bless them all.— Showtime226
- This Orc is pathetically disgusting.— OurCity2000
- She should donate that near-$1M to the schools if she is concerned enough to spend time praying for the Children of Philadelphia. #GreedyDutchBastid— MM1980
- What I don't understand is how the school district let "Arlene the Drag Queen" put them in the financial straights that they are currently in. Don't they have financial advisors to put the kibash on overspending? I know she's a big woman but a group of 5 men could have taken her!— Miss Awesome
- ZERO DIGNITY— hipdaddy
- Unemployment? What about the criminal charges? How did she skirt her corruption? I have a feeling that someone is working on her.— beatleplayer
- If she changed party affiliations she would fit right in with Corbetts appointed staff, people who are hateful of those in need they are supposed to serve. Does Avila have a wife, they would make a great pair of arrogant fools.— Steelmanpa
- Long live Queen Quakerman, Governor Ed Spendell, Duane Morris, Ballahard Spahr and all of the other entities and people that gobble from the people's trough!— SPENDSPEND
- She was paid just almost the balance of her contract in a lump sum. I don't remember any other executive applying for UC after a windfall but I guess she felt entitled. I'm glad she filed; shows you who she was really more concerned with all along: Queen Arlene.
— JoeC.
Of course she was entitled just because she took a million with her doesn't mean she didn't need the money. I hear she had botox sessions planned and now she can't get them! So sad....— SPENDSPEND - She was paid just almost the balance of her contract in a lump sum. I don't remember any other executive applying for UC after a windfall but I guess she felt entitled. I'm glad she filed; shows you who she was really more concerned with all along: Queen Arlene.— JoeC.Of course she was entitled just because she took a million with her doesn't mean she didn't need the money. I hear she had botox sessions planned and now she can't get them! So sad.... (HTML deleted)— SPENDSPEND
- like.— pointguard
- The unemployment rate is getting worse as it's already oversaturated.
There are twice the number of unemployment applications every month than new jobs.
I'm not mathematician, but twice the unemployment claims to new jobs would equal a worsening job market.
The U6 unemployment rating was used to determine the health of the economy in the 1930's, yet today the government favors the U3 rating, which don't take all unemployed people into account and make the crisis seem better than it actually is.— NeedsVacation - Evil cow.— Timmmmy
- Thanks to Bush and the Republican economy, a million dollars really doesn't go far these days. Of course she needs all the money she can get because, for example, look at Romney. He made $21 million last year by stealing from women, children, minorities, and gays. Obviously, if you vote for Romney or if you are angry about this woman, there is no doubt you are a racist Republican.— eldiablodelsol2009
- u-n-e-m-p-l-o-y-m-e-n-t compensation. Guess we know where you stand on "entitlements" whether its corporate welfare or general welfare.— ptahan
- u-n-e-m-p-l-o-y-m-e-n-t compensation. Guess we know where you stand on "entitlements" whether its corporate welfare or general welfare.— ptahan
Comment removed.- crystalrainbowspirit1
When people are fired, they walk away with NOTHING. She was PAID to leave. Big difference. She didn't get the UC because of the BIG payout and the consulting business she has.
— LadySLR - Arlene, You send some of that $900,000. back to cover the costs of misc. items like paper, nursing staff...Not it it would cover much but...If the finances are in such a state it was under her watch. She needs more prayer than the kids. God warned, "Whatever you do to the least of my children..." I'm not saying that the district doesn't have a culture that was there before her, but the finances were not in the state they are now, economic downturn included.— ptahan
- There is a reserved spot in hell for her.— brio
- Comment removed.
- Arlene needs the beauty parlor, and quick!— Street Sense13
- When are people going to understand that she was effectively fired and therfeor not eligible for benefits?— crystalrainbowspirit1
- since it did no work it is not entitled to unemployment— frank_x_rizzo
- Disco Dave's right; poor thing's gonna starve. We'll have to check in with her periodically to make sure she hasn't wasted away to nothing. Set my alarm for 2055...— bbk713
- Ackerman is not appealing so that Nutter can put the Ice Skating Ring at City Hall!!!!!!!!!!!— Shore Girl
- Now she can "pray for the children"--goodness knows she preyed on them far too long.— Constant Reader
- I knew she was going to do that it's a shame. A evil woman like that will do that.
— I M Jim - Now she can "pray for the children"--goodness knows she preyed on them far too long.— Constant Reader
- Queen.By no means are your Philly Days behind you,Stay tuned and save your frequent flyer mileage,you will need them,see you soon.— aguckin
- — kelprod2
She was entitled to apply for UC but she was not entitled to collect since she got such a hugh payout and because she has her own current consulting business. Denial was appropriate!
— LadySLR - Why would she be entitled to unemployment compensation when she was paid $905,000 plus and she currently has a consulting business in New Mexico? Further more, why she was not found to be in violation of her seperation agreement is beyond me? Talking openingly to the media was a direct violation of the agreement.
I would like to know how and why she was paid almost as much as the President of United States is beyond me. I would hope that the next person is not paid nearly as much particularly since the District is in dire straights.— LadySLR - What was the justification for the denial? She paid in & is unemployed. She deserves to collect, just like anybody else. Her buyout is irrelevant.— kelprod2
- "I pray for the children of Philadelphia....that is all that I can do now."
Yeah I guess that is all you can do since you can't use them as pawns, cheat them out of an education, forge their test scores and rip off the taxpayers any more.— freethinker88 
Yay, Now lock them all Up.- It's a complete joke that she filed in the first place. Unemployment is for people who need their income to pay their bills until they find new employment. The severance package she received was a disgusting bill that the taxpayers had to foot for a complete failure to meet any of the objectives laid out to her. She is totally incompetent in all facets and a disgusting example of what is wrong with people taking advantage of the system. She will now go rape some other city in what will be considered a good affirmative action hire— Jersey Girl11
- The people finally win one.— The Monk
- "I pray for the children of philadelphia" BUT i'll still try and squeeze a couple more dollars out of the school district. What a peice of sh##. Finally some good carma for the taxpayers.— nonshad
- Great News!!!! now lock her up!!!— psualum
- Whew........ that was a close one. The city paid her almost a million dollars to leave yet we did save the 30 thousand or less that we would have paid her in unemployment benefits. If you ask me I would have given her the the unemployment payments just to prove how mercenary that woman is. "It's all about the children" ....hogwash!— RufusG
In the basic questions they ask for U.C, she would have failed the qualification test. It WAS NOT arbitrary or capricious to deny Ackerman. Also, with the laws and PC attitude, do you think any government agency today is going to deny a black woman all over the news an entitlement to which she would qualify? Of course not. She failed on the qualifications, most likely vacation or sick pay....as well as her cuttent business. Who the hell would pay this disgusting bozo for any educational advice would be the king of fools based on Ackerman's long history of failure (even before Phila)..and her total incompetence in leadership at all levels. However.....I can see some corrupt people in the present US Adm. feeding Ackerman some slush fund money stolen from TARP, or any of the other trillions that Obama pushed to get...that has somehow evaporated into the clutches of Ackerman types all over the US.- Good!!! Let her eat cake.— oneway
- The queen is denied. She could stand to skip a few meals anyway.— Bill E. Penn
- I can see why they denied her the claim, and it's very easy to determine. In a recent interview (and reported in this newspaper), Ackerman started a consultancy in the South West. Kind of hard to collect state unemployment when you no longer live here, and it's pretty insane to collect any unemployment when you're running a business (i.e., you're not technically unemployed).— Yoda117
- She was paid just almost the balance of her contract in a lump sum. I don't remember any other executive applying for UC after a windfall but I guess she felt entitled. I'm glad she filed; shows you who she was really more concerned with all along: Queen Arlene.— JoeC.
Thank god for some common sense at the state level, because the fools from the city would keep giving her everything. Now, how about getting back that severance package, which she did not earn.— slugo- har har har,,,hook her with milton— hardball
- That she even applied was rather hilarious...in a messed up kind of way.— bearsfriend
- shes disgusting in all aspects— raynesrock
- Thank goodness! One good thing comes out of the Ackerman debacle.— nikki1231
- Well, she's running a consultant business, so that should disqualify her (I would imagine)— turkytom
- She's gonna starve!— Disco Dave
- Comment removed.
- I'm no fan of Arlene the Queen, but the absence of a reason for denying the claim makes the ruling appear to be arbitrary and capricious.— aviator
- Ah, she left on bad terms and I think her taking the lump sum implies cooperation as in take take the money and we won't embarrass you. — ptahan
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Inquirer reporter Kristen Graham writes the Philly School Files blog, where she covers education in Philadelphia, both in and out of the classroom.
During the school year, you’ll frequently find her hosting live chats about the district on Philly.com. Please do pass along the scoop about what’s going on at your Philadelphia public school; Kristen welcomes tips, story ideas and witty banter at kgraham@phillynews.com or 215-854-5146.
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