SRC's Mr. Fix-It has a tall order but a proven record

Friends and colleagues say Thomas Knudsen, the retired CEO of the Philadelphia Gas Works, is an expert at fixing large, failing, dysfunctional organizations.

If that's true, he's perfect for his new job.

Knudsen, 69, took over Friday as chief recovery officer of the Philadelphia School District, a newly created, unprecedented position in which he's tasked with solving a destructive and evolving financial crisis.

"We have to get the vision and the mission for this organization framed, and move forward," Knudsen said in an interview. "That's what I did at PGW, that's what we're going to do here."

Knudsen (pronounced Kah-nude-sen) assumes the powers of both superintendent and chief financial officer in a district that faces millions of dollars in new, immediate cuts and a larger, structural shortfall in the future.

"He would be the first to admit he's not an education expert," said Steven Hershey, PGW's vice president of regulatory and external affairs, and who has known Knudsen for decades. But, he said, Knudsen is a highly intelligent, analytical executive who understands how large organizations work - or don't work, and how to repair them when they're broken.

School Reform Commission Chairman Pedro Ramos, who first contacted Knudsen about the job, said the board is seeking "a basic restructuring" of operations in the face of financial disaster.

Knudsen has no experience in education - and precedents for such an appointment are few.

One is in New York City, where in 2002 Mayor Bloomberg named Joel Klein, a former ranking Justice Department prosecutor, to lead the schools. Klein served eight years until 2010. He was replaced by Cathie Black, a former chairwoman of Hearst Magazines, who likewise had no education background. She resigned after 95 days.

Helen Gym, a board member of Asian Americans United and frequent critic of district management, said she was disturbed the SRC moved so quickly and quietly to create and fill a "recovery officer" position.

"I think the public should have had an opportunity to talk about it before it happened, and we didn't get that opportunity," she said. "This is an unprecedented role. What are Mr. Knudsen's powers and limitations? Who is he accountable to, and for what, in such a short period of time?"