Ackerman: 'I couldn't be prouder'

ARLENE ACKERMAN may be out the door, but she's not leaving quietly.

Just two days after it was announced that she would step down as schools superintendent, Ackerman yesterday told both Education Week and a Philly TV station that her departure had nothing to do with performance and everything to do with politics.

Ackerman told Fox 29 that Mayor Nutter instructed School Reform Commission Chairman Robert Archie two months ago that he wanted her out.

"I was asked to leave," she said. "I was told that the SRC did not want to work with me anymore.

"That was not my choice. But since it wasn't my choice, and the original agreement was that I would stay here for at least five years . . . then I believe the contract should be honored."

Said Ackerman of Nutter: "I think it's unfair to say one thing and do another. If you don't want to work with me, just say it.

"I couldn't be prouder for losing my job," she said, adding that she was out of a job because she stood up for children, not because of poor performance.

"I have not had any contact with any of the parties involved except my lawyer," Ackerman said, responding to a question about where the buyout money came from.

Ackerman's contract, which was to end June 2014, had her eligible for up to $1.5 million. She walked away with a $905,000 severance package (more than $1,035,000 if you add benefits and $130,000 in contributions to two deferred compensation plans) - $500,000 came from the district, and $405,000 from anonymous private donors.

The secrecy behind the donors' identities has raised concerns over transparency.

Ackerman said that she didn't know who contributed to the Philadelphia's Children First Fund, a nonprofit agency that has worked closely with the district since 2003, which transferred the funds to her.

Along with Archie and Acting Superintendent Leroy Nunery, Ackerman sits on the fund's board, and its headquarters are located inside Duane Morris, the Center City law firm where Archie works.

"I think the city should ask," Ackerman said in the TV interview about revealing their identities. "The people should ask. I don't have to ask the question."

In an interview with the education news journal, Ackerman blamed her departure on political wrangling. She said that she'd crossed the mayor when he asked her to use full-day kindergarten as a bargaining chip to get more money from the city and state amid a $620 million gap.

"I really didn't want to do it, I really didn't feel good about it," Ackerman told the journal. "But I'm trying to play the politics here."

Her relationship with Nutter really soured, she said, when she announced that she found money to restore the program.

"I actually thought he would be happy that we found the money, but he was furious," she said.

Mayoral spokesman Mark McDonald said that Ackerman's version of events is false, and that she and the SRC reached a mutual decision to part ways.

"The mayor appreciates Dr. Ackerman's service, but he has no interest in responding to her emotional remarks," he said.

- Staff writer Phillip Lucas contributed to this report.