Ackerman is denied jobless pay

ARLENE Ackerman is finally done taking from the taxpayers of Pennsylvania.

Ackerman, who left her job last year as superintendent of the Philadelphia School District with a $905,000 public buyout, has been rejected in her bid to collect unemployment compensation, district spokesman Fernando Gallard confirmed yesterday.

Ackerman told NBC 10 yesterday that she has decided not to fight the denial. "I'm not fighting anymore," she said. "I'm moving on with my life, and I pray for the children of Philadelphia."

She didn't return a call from the Daily News.

Gallard could not provide the reason why the Department of Labor and Industry denied the claim.

No doubt Ackerman's LinkedIn profile helps provide some insight. Ackerman, now living in New Mexico, started her own consulting business last year, according to her Web page.

The Ackerman Education Strategies Group offers educational leaders and policymakers strategies "to accelerate student achievement, reduce violence in schools and promote parent and community engagement."

The idea that the controversial, ousted schools chief, the state's highest-paid public employee in 2010, would file for unemployment was greeted with shock when Ackerman resigned from her $348,000- a-year job in August.

The district had agreed not to block any unemployment claims filed by Ackerman as part of her separation agreement.

The most she could have received from unemployment was $573 per week, which would then have been reduced based on any public pension payments she's already receiving.