Brett Mandel: Republican Mayor?

Plus DRPA shuffling, Ackerman's $100,000 bonus, kids being used as drug mules and more of what Philly's talking about this morning

Brett Mandel for Republican Mayor? According to Newsworks, Milton Street will be officially announcing his candidacy today. Meanwhile Dave Davies writes that Republicans want Brett Mandel on their ticket to run against Nutter and reports that Mandel’s not exactly saying no.

Sasso to Replace Estey on DRPA? Governor Corbett is expected to replace PA’s eight commissioners on the Delaware River Port Authority, and the Gloucester County Times reports the guv is going to name William R. Sasso of Philly law firm Stradley Ronon to take the chairman’s spot currently held by John Estey, who was appointed by Rendell and is a partner at Ballard Spahr. Ah, doin’ the political shuffle. Those crazy kids.

Ackerman Passes on Her $100,000 Bonus … For Now. After the Daily News got pushy yesterday about this huge bonus written into the super’s contract, the school district said Ackerman will “defer her retention bonus until the [district’s] budget picture becomes more clear.” [Daily News]

Suspended CB East Teach Stands By Her Blog. English teacher Natalie Munroe was suspended last week after her snarky blog comments about students (“rude, lazy, disengaged whiners”) got around on Facebook and such. She and her lawyer say she didn’t do anything that could get her fired because the school district has no policy about personal blogs. [6 ABC]

Ursinus College Lowers Expectations. Rounding out the Scoop’s education theme, Ursinus College has purposely cut back on its seduction of potential students (who will only turn around and reject the school once they’ve been accepted anyway … sniff). The New York Times has a piece today explaining why the Collegeville university has gone against trend and made getting into the school more difficult.

Cobbs Creek Kids Used as Drug Mules. Police made a drug bust yesterday and discovered a nine-year-old and a 10-year-old with seven pounds of marijuana in their backpacks. Their parents were arrested, along with a man who happens to be a school police officer. Lovely. [NBC 10]