Having inspired both accolades and acrimony during her three-year tenure, Arlene C. Ackerman departed her job as superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia on Monday, and opinions swiftly rumbled across the city:

“Divisive.”

“Committed.”

“Feisty.”

Those were some of the one-word reviews of the controversial superintendent, whose term included a $650 million budget shortfall this year and a raft of confrontations with city power brokers.

“This has been a bad soap opera,” said Shelly Yanoff, executive director of Public Citizens for Children and Youth, referring to Ackerman’s battles with the School Reform Commission, politicians, unions, and others. “This last week has been particularly ugly.”

Though Ackerman made academic improvements in the district, there was a “serious cost to that improvement,” added Yanoff, whose organization advocates for Philadelphia children.

Ackerman succeeded in her mission to give voice to “the downtrodden,” Yanoff continued, but in the end, “too many teachers and parents felt they were not valued.”

However, Ackerman impressed other advocates with her commitment to feeding children living in poverty in a city considered among the hungriest in America.

Ackerman made breakfast free for all Philadelphia students, regardless of income. And she held principals accountable for the number of students eating breakfast in their schools, making breakfast participation part of the report card that rates principals each year.

“She gave her support to these important initiatives, which will serve children quite well into the future,” said Jonathan Stein, a veteran advocate for the poor as a lawyer with Community Legal Services.
Ackerman often characterized herself as an educator and not a politician. Some say that made her time here difficult, as she failed to relate to politicians, teachers’ unions, and other groups that make up the power structure within the Philadelphia school system.

“She didn’t know how to talk to politicians, and that’s critical in this town,” said Vernard Johnson, an education activist.

But Ackerman’s inability to negotiate the political arena did not diminish all her accomplishments, Johnson said.

“Test scores are up, her Promise Academies have made changes in student lives,” Johnson said, referring to Ackerman’s initiative that has taken the lowest-performing schools and given them more resources and longer academic days and years.

“She is feisty,” he continued. “She did fight for the children – that’s what I respected about her. And she did more than any superintendent ever did to make sure African American children got treated fairly in the classroom.

“It’s absolutely a loss to Philadelphia now that she’s gone.”
Sylvia Simms, founding president of the parents group Parent Power, also praised Ackerman. She said Ackerman’s strength was in engaging parents, allowing them to feel like they were an important part of the education process.

“She was an 8 on a scale of 1-10 in getting parents engaged,” Simms said. “I think she really tried to do a good job.”

Activist Emmanuel Bussie said Ackerman was done in by a city power elite that did not appreciate her strength and passion.

“She’s a winner, so why is she going?” Bussie asked. “Is the will of the people really being served?”

Speaking for several students whom she had contacted Monday, Nijmie Dzurinko, executive director of the Philadelphia Student Union, said young people appreciated Ackerman’s efforts to direct resources toward underserved neighborhood schools.

Eager to avoid further conversation about Ackerman’s often rocky times with the district, Carol Fixman, executive director of the Philadelphia Education Fund, preferred to look to the future.

“It’s very important for the School District to see that we move forward expeditiously so we have a smooth opening to the new school year,” said Fixman, whose nonprofit organization works to improve public education.

“We will recognize her [Ackerman’s] accomplishments and look forward to the SRC getting a successor. We are now looking forward,” Fixman said, “not backward.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer – August 23, 2011 – Read article online