Some past, present city officials say Nunery should stay at district helm

The Philadelphia School District should scrap plans for a national superintendent search and keep Leroy Nunery II, says a former top city official who has taken his argument to city and state leaders.

Nunery, who is serving as acting superintendent, finished second for the job when Arlene C. Ackerman was hired and has spent the last 18 months working in and learning about the system, said George Burrell, who was Mayor John F. Street's top adviser and is a partner in a city law firm.

"He has a record of professional excellence and a reputation for fiscal and organizational discipline," Burrell wrote to Gov. Corbett, Mayor Nutter, and a group of City Council members and legislators Wednesday. "He has lived and worked locally for more than a decade, so he understands the city and its culture."

Burrell's letter might be just another opinion from a former official, except that some current officials - including two on Council and the president of the city teachers' union - think the idea has merit.

Nunery was Ackerman's top aide, and while some say Nunery is too closely tied to the controversial Ackerman administration, others favor giving him a chance - or at least limiting any search to local educators.

"We have a lot of very talented educators in the city of Philadelphia," said Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation Teachers. "I don't know there's a need to spend the scarce resources we have on doing a national search."

Others say to do less would be unfair to Nunery, other potential internal candidates, and the district.

"Even though he's good, we need to do a national search to make sure we have the best," said State Rep. Ron Waters, chairman of Pennsylvania's Legislative Black Caucus.

Ultimately the decision will rest with the School Reform Commission, which is currently without two of its five members, as well as Nutter and Corbett, who appoint commission members.

Corbett's education secretary, Ronald Tomalis, left little doubt on his position.

"An official superintendent search will take place," Tomalis said through a spokesman. He did not elaborate on whether it would be national.

Nutter's spokesman Mark McDonald was not specific, but said the mayor would discuss the topic with his newest SRC appointee, Wendell E. Pritchett Jr., chancellor of Rutgers-Camden, and another yet-to-be-named member. Nutter's previous appointees, Robert L. Archie Jr. and Johnny Irizarry, resigned this week.

Nunery declined to comment. So did Commissioners Denise McGregor Armbrister and Joseph Dworetzky.

Shelly Yanoff, executive director of Public Citizens for Children and Youth, offered a middle ground: Give Nunery a couple months and then make a decision about a national search.

"In the next couple months, we'll see whether he can generate the support and leadership we need," she said. "I think his low-key style could cause us to take a deep breath."

Nunery, a former executive at the for-profit Edison Schools, was hired by the district in April 2010 as chief of institutional advancement and strategic partnerships. Before that, his management consulting firm, PlusUltre L.L.C., had a contract to help with the district's "Renaissance Schools."

As Ackerman's top aide, he largely ran the system over the last few months.

He also was present at a controversial meeting last spring in which SRC chair Archie, State Rep. Dwight Evans, and a charter operator who had just been awarded the contract for Martin Luther King High School met in private after a board meeting. The charter operator subsequently pulled out, and it came to light that Evans was lobbying for another firm to get the job. Nutter subsequently ordered his chief integrity officer to review the case, and Nunery was among those interviewed. The report is due out soon.

Burrell, who left city government in 2006, said he got to know Nunery when he was general counsel for PWRT Services Inc. and Nunery was doing organizational skills consulting for it.

"I know he's disciplined and he does good work," Burrell said.

National searches result in a "musical chair" situation, he said.

"Most of the people who are candidates for these jobs have been somewhere and their welcomes have worn out in those somewheres," he said.

City Council members James F. Kenney and Marian B. Tasco said they, too, favored giving Nunery a chance rather than launching a national search.

"Let him stay there for a while, whether one year or two years. It will bring a little more stability," said Tasco, who noted that the district already is getting almost an entirely new School Reform Commission. "Then evaluate him."

In some ways, the district is in the same position it was three years ago. At that time, Paul Vallas had just left and the district appointed Thomas Brady, who had been an administrator in the system, as the interim. Despite good reviews early on, the commission decided to move forward on a national search. Brady withdrew before the deadline to apply but said he would take the job if the commission wanted him.

The same thing happened before David Hornbeck was hired in 1994. Theresa Lemme, an educator who had been in the system, was named interim. But in her case, she was told she couldn't even apply for the job, Jordan recalled.

"I think that was a huge mistake," Jordan said.

A person brought in from outside takes a year to learn the system, then floats his or her own reform plan in Year Two. By the fourth year, problems occur, he said.

While he stopped short of saying Nunery should be superintendent, he said: "I find that Lee Nunery is so far doing a good job. There hasn't been a lot of gnashing of teeth with the opening of schools. People are not on edge as they were before."