Ackerman announces more changes in key schools staff

More changes are afoot in Philadelphia School Superintendent Arlene Ackerman's administration.

Chief academic officer Maria Pitre-Martin, who has been in Philadelphia for just a year, is leaving, Ackerman announced yesterday.

Pitre-Martin has accepted a job with the North Carolina Department of Education, a district spokesman said Tuesday night. Pitre-Martin, who recently married, is moving to be near her husband, the spokesman said.

Pitre-Martin previously worked as a teacher and administrator in Texas and Louisiana. She was a fellow of the Broad Superintendents Academy, where Ackerman was one of her mentors.

Stepping up to take Pitre-Martin's spot on an interim basis is Pamela Brown, who previously was Northwest regional superintendent and oversaw the district's 95 "empowerment schools," or chronically underperforming schools.

Brown has a background supervising English-language programs in Phoenix.

Ackerman endorsed Brown for the second-ranking academic post in the 167,000-student Philadelphia School District.

"Over her professional career and as the regional superintendent for the Northwest Region, Pam has shown her in-depth understanding of the academic needs of our students," Ackerman said in an e-mail to staffers.

Penny Nixon, a former assistant superintendent in the Northwest, becomes interim regional superintendent, and retired administrator Jack Hamilton will continue to provide support on a contract basis.

The moves cap a month of change in the district. Earlier this month, the position of chief of staff turned over for the third time in Ackerman's 16 months in Philadelphia.

Tomas Hanna, formerly chief of school operations, now holds the job. Hanna's job switch triggered a series of new faces in top positions.

There were two other changes in district leadership this year. General counsel Sherry A. Swirsky has been on administrative leave for months, and former communications vice president Cecilia Cummings left the district during the summer.