Anger builds over $1M buyout of Ackerman in Philly

Philadelphians of every hue and persuasion have found something to be angry about in the buyout deal for former Superintendent of Schools Arlene Ackerman. For some, it's the roughly $1 million cost of the buyout... For the non-partisan, non-profit watchdog group, the Committee of Seventy, the issue has been the unusual and probably unprecedented dependence on anonymous private donors to help cover the cost of Dr. Ackerman's parachute. -- Education Nation

The $400,000 or so in private donations is being channeled through a non-profit organization established by the School District called Philadelphia's Children First. Its board of directors included Dr. Ackerman; lawyer Robert Archie Jr., chairman of the School Reform Commission, the state/city agency that oversees the schools, and Dr. Leroy Nunnery, an Ackerman deputy who is now acting superintendent and who has declared his interest in permanently winning Ackerman's job. Those who donated to the Ackerman buyout through Philadelphia's Children First get a tax deduction and, at least for now, complete cover.