State lawmaker seeks Ackerman's removal

A state representative from Northeast Philadelphia who has been sharply critical of Superintendent Arlene C. Ackerman will call for her removal Thursday.

"Every day she is there she is doing irreparable harm to the school district," State Rep. Michael McGeehan (D., Phila.) said.

The School District in the meantime released a statement saying State Sen. Vincent Hughes, State Rep. Jewell Williams and City Councilman Curtis Jones would join civil rights and religious leaders at the district's North Broad Street headquarters in a show of support for Ackerman Thursday afternoon.

McGeehan said he would call on Gov. Corbett to urge the Philadelphia School Reform Commission to fire Ackerman.

"I'm going to call on the governor to call on the SRC to terminate her contract immediately," McGeehan said.

The district is facing a $629 million budget shortfall after July 1, and on Wednesday district officials announced that they will have to take $25 million from reserves to balance the current $3.2 billion budget.

"We have reached the tipping point," McGeehan said, adding that Ackerman had no credibility in Harrisburg and that her presence harmed "the district's ability to deliver a consistent and believable message to Harrisburg about funding."

District spokeswoman Shana Kemp declined to comment.

Four months ago, McGeehan held a news conference to raise questions about district procurement practices and Ackerman's decision to suspend six senior executives while the district investigated leaks about the awarding of a $7.5 million no-bid emergency contract to install surveillance cameras.

"I hoped things would get better, but instead it's much worse," he said.

Since the state takeover of the district in December 2001, the five-member SRC has overseen the district. The governor appoints three members, the mayor two. Corbett has yet to select a replacement for David F. Girard-diCarlo, who resigned in February.