Ackerman pledges to help kids, criticizes CFO, PFT chief

CORRECTION: The size of Ackerman's buyout was incorrect in an earlier version of this story.

ARLENE ACKERMAN told a local radio station yesterday that she plans to stay in Philadelphia long enough to help families advocate for their children.

The dethroned schools superintendent suggested during an interview with 900AM WURD that parents ought to consider vouchers as an alternative to the city's failing public schools.

During the interview, Ackerman also said that Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, tried to thwart her plans to expand the Promise Academies, a key initiative.

Jordan disagreed.

"We never said to get rid of the Promise Academies," he told the Daily News. "We questioned how the district can do it without taking money away from other schools."

Ackerman also zeroed in on the district's chief financial officer, Michael Masch, saying that the numbers he provided were unclear to her.

At Wednesday's tumultuous School Reform Commission meeting, Ackerman supporters in the audience called for Masch to be fired and accused him of mishandling district funds.

Masch countered after the meeting, saying that the district has never been as transparent about its budget as it's been on his watch.

"The people who said that don't know me, nor do they know the people who work in the district," Masch told the People's Paper.

District spokesman Fernando Gallard said yesterday that the district is not interested in responding to any statement made by Ackerman.

A clause in Ackerman's $905,000 buyout agreement bars her from making disparaging remarks against the SRC or any senior district staffer.

Since she stepped down as schools superintendent on Monday, Ackerman has been on the offensive, saying that Mayor Nutter targeted her for her political missteps and instructed the SRC to get rid of her.

She also said in an interview that her relationship with the mayor soured after he forced her to use full-day kindergarten as a political bargaining chip. A high-level Nutter administration source denied that and said it was the district that decided to "put kindergarten on the chopping list."

"No one put a gun to their head," said the source, who added that Nutter was furious that Ackerman didn't tell him that she had found the money for the slashed program as he lobbied state and city lawmakers for more cash for the district.

The source said that officials pleaded with Ackerman to address the budget gap months before it grew, but said Ackerman refused to cooperate.

"That was kind of typical behavior. To have her say anything was wrong, was hard," said the source.