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Inquirer Editorial: Not the time to keep secrets

The Philadelphia School District plunged into murky waters by accepting $405,000 from anonymous donors to buy out Superintendent Arlene C. Ackerman's contract. The public deserves to know more about this unusual arrangement.

The Philadelphia School District plunged into murky waters by accepting $405,000 from anonymous donors to buy out Superintendent Arlene C. Ackerman's contract. The public deserves to know more about this unusual arrangement.

The School Reform Commission shouldn't keep any secrets when it meets Wednesday to ratify the agreement that will officially end Ackerman's bumpy three-year tenure as schools chief.

Under the settlement, taxpayers paid $500,000 of the $905,000 lump sum Ackerman agreed to take to break her contract. The rest came from unnamed donors. Only by revealing those donors can it be clear that their motives were only to act in the best interest of schoolchildren.

The donors also helped bridge a large gap in the settlement with Ackerman, which even after being reduced is believed to be one of the biggest payouts ever made to get rid of a schools superintendent. Ackerman could have been entitled to as much as $1.5 million for the three years remaining on her contract, but she accepted the lower amount.

The School Reform Commission believes it has the law on its side in keeping the donors' names anonymous. It is using a middleman to receive the private donations that will ultimately go to Ackerman - the Philadelphia's Children First Fund, a nonprofit with close ties to the district.

Someone needs to explain exactly how acting as the go-between to pay off Ackerman fulfills the charity's stated purpose to improve public education.

It is also troubling that the nonprofit's board includes not only SRC Chairman Robert L. Archie Jr., but also newly appointed interim Superintendent Leroy Nunery II, who has made it no secret that he wants Ackerman's job on a permanent basis.

Mayor Nutter, who helped solicit donations, also should tell what he knows about the donors. He has always been an advocate of strong ethics and campaign-finance rules. And to some degree, this arrangement is similar to unnamed donors' giving money to political-action committees.

Just as voters need to know who's giving what to whom so they can determine what's really afoot, Philadelphians need assurances about the donors to the effort to fire Ackerman. The public has a right to know if any of the donors have business dealings with the district or the city.

If there is nothing nefarious about the donors, that's all the more reason for them to reveal themselves. No doubt, some Philadelphians would like to applaud their timely generosity.

State Auditor General Jack Wagner announced Tuesday that he plans to review the Ackerman buyout as well as a settlement reached by the Allentown district to terminate its superintendent. That's good. Maybe he can find out who the secret donors are.

The Ackerman episode is more evidence that Pennsylvania would do well to follow New Jersey's lead in trying to cap superintendents' pay, especially when budget cuts have forced districts to slash programs and lay off teachers. It makes little sense for a school board to complain about what has to be paid to buy out a superintendent's contract when it never should have negotiated such an expensive pay package.