Public Education/ School Reform Commission
The Committee of Seventy urged an immediate investigation by the State Attorney General and Philadelphia District Attorney into findings released in a report from the Mayor’s Chief Integrity Officer, Joan Markman. The report said that State Representative Dwight Evans, with the help of then‐School Reform Commission Chairman Robert L. Archie, Jr., used his political power to steer a contract to a favored charter school operator.
The Committee of Seventy reacted to news that public dollars were used to fund the entire buyout of former School District Superintendent Arlene Ackerman’s contract. After Seventy and others criticized keeping secret the identities of private donors to the buyout, most of them pulled out, according to the School Reform Commission. The remaining non-public funds were returned to the still unknown contributors.
The Committee of Seventy urged the School Reform Commission to reveal the names of donors of roughly $400,000 to former Philly schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman. Secrecy, Seventy argued, prevents the public from knowing whether or how favors might be returned – either by the School District or by another part of government. Seventy also called for letting the public in on the outcome of the city’s investigation of SRC Chairman Bob Archie’s role in the Martin Luther King High School contract.
Following announcement that Superintendent Arlene Ackerman would depart the Philadelphia School District - with
a $905,000 buyout paid in part by private anonymous donors – who decides what happens next? Seventy's first IN THE KNOW on public education explains that understanding who makes decisions about the city's schools (hint: the state is involved) is more complicated than you might think.