Salute: Arlene Ackerman, School Reform Activist, Dies At 66

Praised schools superintendent improved student performance everywhere she went

Arlene C. Ackerman, a titan in the education reform movement, died of pancreatic cancer on Saturday, said her friend Rev. Kevin Johnson. She was 66. Ackerman won national accolades from improving student performance as a schools superintendent in all three cities that brought her on. When student test scores were down in Washington, D.C. in 1997, the self-proclaimed “warrior for children” came in and they went up. She did the same for San Francisco in 2000 and for Philadelphia in 2008. In 2010, Ackerman received the Richard R. Green Award, given to the nation’s top urban school leaders by the Council of Great City Schools. Arne Duncan, secretary of U.S. Department of Education, said in a statement after Ackerman’s death that he learned from her during his years as a superintendent of the Chicago public schools. She had her critics, too. Teacher union leaders dubbed her "Queen Arlene" for her no-compromise leadership approach. Born in St. Louis, as the first of five children, Ackerman led a life of academic achievement. She was chosen for the National Honor Society, but the white student who was to escort her into the induction ceremony refused. Ackerman said race was a constant consideration in her life and later in her work at urban schools. (New York Times)

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