From today's Inky:

New School CEO Arlene Ackerman kicks off her first day with her 20-member blue ribbon panel, whose main job will be "to listen to parents, teachers and other district participants."

The transition-team effort will cost $75,000 to $100,000, which was negotiated when she was hired, Ackerman said. Each panel member will be offered a $1,000-a-day honorarium for the work, which is likely to span four days, she said.

As a parent I am flattered to be valued at so much, $20,000 a day? Usually I'm happy to give my thoughts for free.

To put $20,000 in perspective, a parent who testified at the District's budget hearing noted that her school was trying to choose whether to buy a librarian or a special ed teacher for $18,000 -- that would be less than one day of this panel to serve 250 kids for a year.

Another panel project will be to evaluate outside District managers. This despite the fact that we have had four independent studies evaluate EMOs in the District and all of them consistently report that they do not academically outperform the average District managed school despite collecting more than $110 million in management fees. The panel is chaired by a representative from one EMO, Dr. Kent McGuire of Temple University, and counts Leroy Nunnery, former Edison Schools president, as a member. Both these men were also finalists for the CEO position at the School District.