Super Search Becomes ​“Star Search” For A Day

A Memphis-based ​“preacher-superintendent” with 30 years’ experience as an educator elicited rolls of laughter, a few ​“amen“s, and a standing ovation. Then Garth Harries took the mic — and showed New Haven a new side of himself in a tearful, passionate plea for the superintendent’s job.

“I’ll be gentle on the people, tough on the work,” declared Memphis’s Kriner Cash.

“It’s not always be easy … there’s going to be blood, there’s going to be sweat, and — as today — there’s going to be tears,” said Harries, referring to his own.

The two men, rival candidates seeking New Haven’s open superintendent job, made the pleas Saturday at Gateway Community College. They were taking part in an all-day forum for three finalists in New Haven’s quest to replace retiring 21-year Superintendent Reggie Mayo. Saturday was the public’s first chance to meet all three candidates; the board plans to name a replacement at Monday’s school board meeting.

Over 150 people gathered Saturday to hear from the three candidates: Dred Scott, deputy superintendent of Independence, Missouri; Cash, the superintendent of Memphis schools until his recent resignation following his school board’s decision not to renew his contract; and Harries, the New Haven school system’s current assistant superintendent for school reform.

Harries left a position as a top adviser to New York Schools Chancellor Joel Klein in 2009 to serve as the architect of New Haven’s school reform effort. It is widely believed that he was being groomed to take over New Haven’s superintendency after spending a few years building relationships, knowledge of the city, and trust. He has been considered as a shoe-in for the superintendent’s job now.

Instead of a pro-forma crowning of the heir apparent, Saturday’s forum yielded a robust examination of outside candidates. There was more public participation than many had expected, given the school board’s early foundering efforts to get public input in the search.

An informal poll of the audience showed emphatic support for Harries among many teachers, administrators and parent activists who have worked with him; a good number of attendees also threw support behind Scott and Cash.

For Harries, the day proved an opportunity to try to win support from parents and activists in the broader New Haven public, people with whom he hasn’t built a relationship. Harries is a white 40-year-old lawyer who came to the education field after working as a McKinsey consultant. He faced tougher-than-predicted competition from two men with African-American heritage whose lives more closely reflect those of New Haven’s public- school families, and who have more experience and higher degrees in the education field.

Scott and Cash both said that when they applied for the job, they had no idea there was a strong internal candidate in the running.

Cash declared himself ​“the strongest candidate.”

“That person doesn’t have any experience as a superintendent,” said Cash, referring to Harries.

The candidates made their cases to the public over the course of the hearing, which lasted from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Scott (pictured) went first. He stood in Gateway’s air-conditioned community room and addressed a crowd of 75, including principals, parent activists, four school board members, teachers, and a couple of aldermen. (The crowd doubled as the day went on.)

He opened with a personal tale aimed at connecting with families in New Haven schools, where 86 percent of kids are black and Hispanic, and the vast majority qualify for subsidized meals.

Scott, who’s 39, said his parents divorced early. He was raised by a single mom. His mom never had a car, so they took public transportation everywhere.

“I’ve lived in a home without electricity. I know what that’s like. I’ve lived in a home without food. I know what that’s like,” Scott said. ​“My parent was unable to be involved in my education.”

He recalled riding a bus for 30 minutes to get to school in Kansas City, Missouri.

A bad case of chicken pox left him with a permanent blemish on his face. ​“Having a mark on my face made me feel and look different than those around me,” he explained. He credited a 4th-grade teacher with taking him aside and supporting him in school.

Scott became an elementary teacher in 1997. He rose to be a principal, administrator, and finally deputy superintendent in Missouri schools. He’s been the deputy superintendent in Independence, Missouri, since 2008. He has a PhD in education from Baker University in Baldwin City, Kansas. (Click here to read his resume.)

Scott bears the same name as an important figure in our country’s civil-rights history: a 19th century slave who challenged slavery in a landmark case before the Supreme Court. He said he’s not a descendent of Scott, but is named after the historical figure and has tried to live up to his legacy.

Scott gave long answers to questions, which reduced the total number of questions asked. He often pointed to his beliefs, and told personal stories about raising his three kids, rather than taking a hard policy stance. In response to several specific questions, he said he would listen to those around him before taking action.

“My leadership style is about relationships,” he said.

He praised New Haven’s reform drive and vowed to continue it.

“I believe in the vision set forth by the board,” he said. ​“My vision is to take what’s already here … become an integral part of the district and the community … and move forward with effecting change in the areas that need to be addressed.”

Scott got applause from the audience for declaring that his kids attend public schools in Independence, and would attend New Haven public schools. He said his most proud accomplishment was ​“helping to turn a struggling school around” when he was principal.

After he spoke, he was asked if he knew there was a strong internal candidate also seeking the job. He said he hadn’t known that when he applied.

He was asked what he brings to New Haven that the school district staff doesn’t already offer internally.

“The experience of a lifelong educator,” he replied.

While Scott appeared cautious and reasoned, Cash (at left in photo) was explosive.

The superintendent has made a name for himself as a firebrand and has been seen as a polarizing figure. He quit his last post as Memphis superintendent after the school board voted not to renew his contract.

He gave a hint of his hard-driving leadership style in his 90-minute appearance Saturday morning.

First, he shocked some in the crowd by announcing support for corporeal punishment — in the home, not in school. He said his dad used the ​“board of education” against him three times, though he always waited until he wasn’t mad to execute the spanking.

Cash, who’s 58, was born to a white mom and a black father. He was born in Philly and grew up in Cincinnati. His resume boasts 30 years of experience as an educator, 20 of them as an administrator. That includes stints as Memphis superintendent, ​“chief of accountability and systemwide performance” in Miami-Dade County Public Schools; and superintendent in Martha’s Vineyard. Before that, he was an associate dean/ assistant professor at Howard University.

He holds a PhD in education from UMass-Amherst, a master’s in education from Stanford, and a bachelor’s from Princeton.

He offered a take-it-or-leave-it style.

“I’m going to attack economic segregation” while ​“I’m also doing education,” Cash said. ​“If you’re about that, I’m your guy.” If not, ​“I’m on the plane at three-thirty.”

He kept the crowd laughing with tightly scripted jokes tailored to the New Haven crowd.

On his travels through New Haven, he said, he went through ​“Newhallville, Beaver Hill, the Hill, West … something?”

“West Rock! Westville!” the crowd replied.

And ​“Dicks… something?” He said, drawing laughs as well as the answer — Dixwell.

“Superintendent’s a preacher. Don’t give him a mic,” he warned during one long-winded answer.

He offered concrete plans on how he’d change the city — and what New Haven’s school reform drive is missing.

“You could say this is successful,” he said of Saturday’s event, ​“because there are 50 parents here. But how many parents aren’t here?”

“This is not successful parent turnout,” he said.

In response to a question on early childhood education, he prepared the crowd for tough remarks: ​“I’m a good guy, I’m a funny guy, my wife like me… but I’m direct,” he began.

“The landscape here in early childhood is gobbledygook,” he declared. He said there are too many different pre‑K programs, which creates confusion. ​“Some places you pay, some places you don’t. Some places you slide, some places you don’t,” he said, gliding across the floor to illustrate his point about sliding-scale tuition.

“There should be universal access to high-quality early childhood experiences,” he said. Kids need at least 5,000 words by the time they’re 5, or else they slip behind and never catch up. ​“That’s where the gap starts.”

Cash earned lots of ​“mm-hmmms” from two parent activists at one table for statements like this: ​“There is no way you should be in 12th grade and spend 13 years with us and you can’t read or write. That’s a failure. That’s intolerable. That’s a crime against children.”

Damaris Rau, a director of instruction in New Haven’s schools, asked Cash what he would add to New Haven’s ​“nationally recognized” reform effort.

He ran down a list of deficiencies. New Haven’s school system doesn’t have enough pre‑K offerings. It needs a clearer ​“continuum” of curriculum from pre‑K to 5, ​“to make sure kids don’t fall off” in the early years.

“It’s time to assess your pre‑K to 8 structure,” he added, referring to New Haven’s shift from separate elementary and middle schools to pre-K-8s.

He gave ​“big kudos” to Mayor John DeStefano’s $1.5 billion school rebuilding effort, but said ​“strategically, we’re low-calorie.” He called for more ​“robust thinking” about how to engage parents and connect the curriculum from pre‑K to college. He also called for central office to support individual schools, not just ​“on paper” but with resources for English-language learners and special ed.

Budget watchdog and Newhallville resident Ken Joyner (pictured) liked what he heard. In a question and answer period, he declared himself ​“impressed” with Cash, particularly with one feat: Cash raised $24.2 million in just seven months, fulfilling the local match for a $92 million Gates Foundation grant.

In closing remarks, Cash declared himself ​“the most qualified” of the candidates. ​“That’s not arrogance,” he said. ​“If it’s true, it’s true.”

He suggested the board hire him ​“because of who I am. I am a fierce warrior for children.”

“You’ve got a good reform platform, but it needs tissue,” he told the audience. ​“The leadership you’ve had was excellent for that time. But this is a new time.”

By the end of his 90 minutes, he had elicited lots of laughter and a few ​“amens” from the crowd. A group of parent activists rose to their feet in a standing ovation.

After his speech, Cash was asked about his being ousted from his Memphis job.

He said he chose to leave the Memphis post (after the board had not renewed his contract) because the district was undergoing a merger, and ​“the work was going to switch from reform to merger.”

He denied being a polarizing figure. ​“I’m a galvanizing figure,” he said.

In the past year, Cash has struck out on jobs in New Bedford, Mass., and Duval County, Florida. He said he recently applied to four or five districts, including New Bedford.

Cash said he had no idea there was an internal candidate in the running in New Haven until he saw an Independent article last week with a picture of Harries with board member Mike Nast.

He said he applied to the school districts where the recruiter thought he’d be a good fit.

He professed confidence in his chances at getting the New Haven job.

“Even if you say you have a strong internal candidate,” Cash boasted, ​“well, you haven’t talked to me yet.”

Unlike Harries, he argued, ​“I understand the whole body of work of being a superintendent. There’s many pieces to it” — not just being the architect of reform. There’s ​“community relations, infrastructure for technology, personnel, transportation, HR, policy, budgets,” among other areas, he said.

A few moments later, Cash returned to the Independent to add: ​“I’m sure I’d work really, really well with the internal candidate.”

After a quick lunch break, that internal candidate came to the room for what he later described as the most important speech of his career.

Harries went brief on his biography: Born in Australia, grew up near Philly. His voice quickly became strained. He choked up, and his eyes teared up, as he introduced a special guest — his dad, Bob Harries (pictured in a post-speech father-son photo opp).

“The support that he and my mother have provided me has been extraordinary,” he said.

Harries didn’t discuss his resume, which circulated at the event. He first came to New Haven to attend Yale University, graduating in 1995. Unlike his fellow finalists, he doesn’t have a PhD in education or an extensive background in the field. He got a law degree from Stanford, taught for one year at a private school in Vail, Colorado, worked in politics and economic development in Philadelphia; then got hired by the high-powered consulting firm McKinsey & Company, where he worked for three years. He then took the leap into public education, joining the New York City Public Schools in 2003. He rose to be Chancellor Joel Klein’s senior cabinet member in charge of special education as well as portfolio development, which meant closing 15 – 20 schools per year and opening 300 new ones.

He joined New Haven public schools in 2009. 

On Saturday, Harries described working over the past four years to lead up to this moment. In public remarks, Harries is usually quick to defer credit for good news to other staff, not himself. On Saturday, he took a rare moment to talk about himself and to own the work.

He said he’s banking his candidacy on ​“the work we’ve done over the last four years in school reform that I have led.”

He said he believes in that work — and ​“I believe in myself. I believe in my ability to make a difference.”

“I am not Dr. Mayo,” he began. ​“I wore the suit that he recommended that I wear, but I am not Dr. Mayo,” he said, eliciting chuckles.

His introductory remarks focused on ​“two things that define my leadership.”

First, he said, ​“I bring people together to solve problems.” He said when he took over the job in charge of special education in New York schools, there was an uproar at his appointment, given his inexperience in the field. But once on the job, he listened to people and worked with them. When he left six months later, those same critics called the mayor’s office to insist that Harries stay, he recalled.

Second, he said, ​“I believe in changing the world.” He said he does that through action — such as rolling out a nationally watched teacher evaluation/ development program—not through idle words.

He gave personal, emotional account of his commitment to helping disengaged kids. ​“Every time there’s a murder, I print out the academic records of the victim and the perpetrator,” he said. ​“You can see the lack of reading. You can see the suspensions… We have to raise the game for those same kids.”

Harries called for continuing the direction of New Haven’s school reform drive, while also acknowledging that a lot more work needs to be done — especially in engaging parents and improving ​“transparency and equity between schools.”

“I believe in myself, I believe in this district,” he declared. ​“I want the opportunity to lead this district and take this district to another level.”

Because he answered the questions much more quickly, he got twice as many hurled at him — including from people with specific complaints about the district, such as a mom whose daughter was accused of beating up three boys. Harries was open about shortcomings he sees, such as the fact that kids who are expelled get only two hours of home instruction per day.

He acknowledged that New Haven’s ​“unpleasant school admissions process doesn’t start parents on the right foot.” And he outlined changes he has made to add transparency, such as releasing information that finally, after years, revealed the odds parents have at getting into magnet schools.

“We need to get parents engaged,” he said. ​“All too often what they encounter is a locked door and a busy office.” He offered a frank analysis of his work so far reaching parents: He touted his work on Parent University and rebooting the citywide PTO. Then he conceded, ​“I’m not sure that all of our schools have made report card nights accessible to all” families.

Harries was asked about his support for charter schools. His resume reveals that he’s on the board of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers.

“We have some charter schools that need to look at their practices,” he said, citing recent articles in the Independent about high attrition rates of high-schoolers, and high suspension rates of young kids, at Achievement First schools.

After extensive grilling, Harries made another emotional plea declaring his passion for the work.

“I’m asking for your support,” he said. He committed to staying in New Haven for 10 years — not just five, as Cash had committed to.

“New Haven, let’s do it. Let’s do it together. Let’s create the opportunity for our students to rise. You believe in that. And I believe in that to my core,” said Harries.

After his speech, Harries, too, got a standing ovation. Then members of the crowd lined up for hugs. Harries said this was not the largest audience he had faced, nor the most contentious meeting, but it was perhaps the most emotional one for him.

“I have such a passion to do this work,” he said. ​“There are so many choices I’ve made to be in New Haven” rather than take jobs elsewhere. ​“That pregnancy of the moment made it the most important” speech of his career.

He was asked about Cash’s remark about his inexperience.

“I do this work knowing that I’m younger than some, I’m whiter than some.” But ​“those are superficial” factors, he said. ​“I’ve got a track record” in New Haven and ​“I have a lot of trust in the community.”

Unlike with a stranger from out of town, he argued, New Haveners ​“don’t have to worry whether I care about kids — they’ve seen it.”

Harries ​“Brought Himself”

After the three candidates spoke, the audience broke up into four groups to discuss their options.

Joyner declared his support for Cash as someone who would ​“break the mold” of the current school board.

Great-grandma Lynda Wilson (pictured) agreed New Haven schools need ​“someone brand-spanking new,” as she feels ​“things are not getting better” for city kids. She said she felt torn between Cash and Scott. ​“If I had to make a choice, I really think it would be Cash. He has the credentials to be strong and stern.”

Megan Ifill (pictured) of Teach our Children piped up to support Harries. Her parent group has often clashed with Superintendent Reggie Mayo. However, she said even as a parent who has had ​“a somewhat contentious relationship with the Board of Education,” she has found that Harries was ​“instrumental” in making changes to include parents in school district decisions, including placing them at the table to pick new principals.

Shirley Ellis-West, who runs the Street Outreach Workers program, joined the pro-Harries camp. ​“Dr. Cash was very impressive. He knows how to work a room,” she said. Cash offered some good ideas, ​“but working a room does not necessarily mean that you’re what I need. … I’d rather keep Garth than go out and get a superintendent that talks a good game.”

Harries ​“has made so many changes without working a room and being a firebrand,” agreed parent Monica Filppu. ​“I’d rather put my money on someone who’s already been doing the work.”

Some cited concerns about Harries’ lack of a PhD. Others praised him as ​“approachable” and a collaborative leader.

Lisa DeRiu, a teacher at Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School, said her table was equally split between Cash supporters and ​“Team Garth.” People felt New Haven is heading in the right direction, but some felt ​“progress is too slow.”

She declared herself in Harries’ camp. ​“I felt like I almost lost my voice in New Haven,” she said. ​“And then he came in,” she said of Harries. With a collaborative person at central office who believes that ​“the answer is in the room,” and will draw on internal expertise of teachers and other staff, ​“things can move more quickly,” she said.

Despite Harries’ somewhat critical remarks about charters, ConnCAN, a statewide advocacy group that supports charter schools, declared its support for Harries after the event. ​“He knows the district, and has proven his skills and knowledge, and his commitment to the children and families of New Haven,” said ConnCAN CEO Jennifer Alexander.

Dave Low, an outspoken vice-president in the teachers union, said he came away from Saturday’s event ​“far more impressed with the two candidates I hadn’t met before than I expected to be.” Each had strengths he’d like to see in a superintendent.

“Though I had read some things about him that caused me to ask some questions in my mind,” Cash ​“swayed me to his side,” Low said. But he said he was concerned with Cash’s ​“view of superintendency being a five-year job and then you move on.” That would be disruptive of city schools, Low argued.

Low expressed the most support for Harries. ​“There is no perfect candidate,” Low said, but ​“what I like most about Garth is his ability to grow and change and evolve.” 

Low said while Cash set an important goal of universal pre‑K, Harries was the most realistic. Harries stopped short of promising universal pre‑K, given a shortage of money; instead he called for expanding it as much as possible.

Low said Harries went into Saturday’s event with support from the education community. But ​“it’s hard for people inside education to connect to people outside.” The first two candidates connected ​“fantastically” to the crowd. Harries ​“wanted to,” too, and ​“I think he did.”

“Garth brought himself,” Low said. ​“People got to see who he really was. He expressed his motivations and his drive clearly.”

Five of the nine school board members showed up Saturday to hear the candidates. The board plans to deliberate on whom to hire in a phone conference call at 8 p.m. Sunday, then in an in-person meeting Monday morning, according to school board President Carlos Torre. The board plans to announce its pick at Monday’s school board meeting at 5:30 p.m. at 54 Meadow St. Until then, the school board is still taking public feedback on the candidates through .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)