She will receive a $325,000 annual salary plus "other terms and considerations to be negotiated" according to the SRC. Ackerman will start June 1.

Although Gov. Rendell, Mayor Michael Nutter and Commission Chairwoman Sandra Dungee Glenn announced Ackerman's selection last month, the commission was required to formally act on the appointment today.

Paul Vallas, the previous CEO, who left in June to oversee schools in New Orleans, was paid $275,000 a year and $100,000 in annual bonuses.

Ackerman did not attend today's meeting. She is still negotiating some terms of her contract with the school district.

Commissioner James Gallagher was not present for today's vote although he has previously said he supports Ackerman.

After today's vote, Commissioner Martin Bednarek praised Ackerman saying, "She weighs the impact of her decisions on the students first and foremost...I think she will make an excellent CEO."

Bednarek also praised Tom Brady, who took over as interim CEO last summer. "I don't know of anyone who could have done a better job," he said of Brady.

Today's SRC meeting was the first for Heidi A. Ramirez, the commission's fifth member. She was sworn thid morning by Gov. Rendall at the district's Education Center.

Ramirez, 33, who was nominated for the post by Rendell four months ago, was confirmed by the state Senate last week.

A specialist in urban education, she directs the Urban Education Collaborative in Temple University's College of Education. Ramirez will be the commission's first Latina member.

This afternoon's regularly scheduled commission meeting also will include a presentation by the Accountability Review Council, the independent body that was created to monitor the district's academic progress since the 2001 takeover by the state.

The council is scheduled to present its findings on the district's performance during the 2006-07 academic year and release the results of its analysis of the district's 61 charter schoools.