Free Republic

Philadelphia’s public school system was ordered to pay out $2.3 million in damages after a court found it deliberately discriminated against a white-owned business. Security and Data Technologies, Inc. (SDT) was initially chosen by Philadelphia School District (PSD) and then-Superintendent Arlene Ackerman back in 2010 to install surveillance cameras at 19 schools PSD classified as particularly dangerous. After the company began preliminary work, it was abruptly “deselected” and the $7.5 million no-bid contract was then awarded on an emergency basis to IBS Communications, a company not eligible for no-bid contracts. The abrupt turn of events, it turns out, had a...

The headlines last week were filled with outrage over the revelation that former Philadelphia School Superintendent Arlene Ackerman has filed for $573 a week in unemployment compensation, the maximum amount in Pennsylvania. Ms. Ackerman, who was contracted to receive a $348,000 salary through 2014, was bought out of it for a $905,000 lump-sum payment plus $83,000 for unused vacation and personal days.

A former Philadelphia school district superintendent who collected a $905,000 contract buyout from the city has reportedly filed for unemployment benefits. Arlene Ackerman was reportedly paid the hefty buyout by the school district with taxpayer funds after a plan to use $405,000 in private funds to pay her was cancelled amid public outrage. The school district cannot contest the filing due to the separation agreement her lawyers negotiated in August, sources told Fox affiliate WTXF-TV. Ackerman was the highest paid government official in Philadelphia during her three-year stay with the school district, which is run by the state, the station...

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – A Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge today granted a temporary restraining order against the School District of Philadelphia, putting a halt for now on the school district’s plan to lay off 1,500 teachers. (Philadelphia schools superintendent Arlene Ackerman. Photo by Mike DeNardo) Philadelphia schools superintendent Arlene Ackerman confirmed on Monday that the district was sending out layoff notices to 3,024 employees, including the teachers. She said teachers at the district’s worst-performing schools (dubbed “promise academies” by the district) would not be subject to the layoffs because she wanted to minimize disruptions at those failing schools. The Philadelphia...