Miffed

State Rep. Mike McGeehan today has called for further investigation into the actions of School District of Philadelphia Superintendent Arlene Ackerman. Ackerman recently reassigned a work contract to an unauthorized company.

“It didn’t pass the smell test,” McGeehan said of the district’s flippant answers about the shift in work order.

 

Ackerman acknowledged she ordered administrators to direct work to IBS Communications, a small minority firm, even though Newtown’s Security & Data Technologies, Inc. had already been contracted to install surveillance cameras in the city’s 19 persistently dangerous schools.

McGeehan said he fears the quick switch could affect future funding to the city.

“I’m tired of Philadelphia being seen as a place where tax dollars go to die,” he said in a 4 p.m. interview with NewsWorks.

The 173rd District Democrat today met with the Thomas Gluck, secretary of education, who ensured McGeehan the Department of Education will further investigate the scenario. If federal laws are found to have been broken, the auditor general and other federal figures could become involved.

“The conduct of the superintendent and her administration hinder out ability to help Philadelphia and the School District,” McGeehan said. “It’s a read disservice to the commonwealth.”