Harries; Hermione.
Like Hermione Granger, the high school heroine of the Harry Potter series, Garth Harries seemingly figured out a way to be two places at once as an academic year began this year. Will that save his job?
That question was debated Friday by WNHH radio’s weekly news-in-review pundit panel. Radio news personalities Babz Rawls-Ivy, Joe Ugly, Michelle Turner, and Markeshia Ricks joined me in discussing the embattled schools superintendent’s omnipresence during the first week of school. Even before the first day of school, Harries was everywhere, showing up at backpack giveaways, kindgerten-family and anti-truancy canvasses, race and student-support discussions and rallies, and ribbon-cuttings. All while making sure his name and photo figured prominently in publicity about those events, several times a day.
The pundit panel weighed whether those moves will convince people that Harries is working hard and producing results, contrary to the arguments of people trying to oust him; or whether he’ll be seen as drawing attention to himself and engaging in corporate branding rather than highlighting the actual work and the people doing it in the trenches.
A similar discussion centered on U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy’s 128-mile walk through Connecticut this week. Yes, like his food-stamp challenge, his gun-control filibuster, and his day-long homelessness shadowing, the event gave him publicity. But, the pundits agreed, Murphy has used the spotlight to do true fact-finding and draw attention to the plight of the less privileged in creative ways.
Click on or download the above audio file to hear the full episode of WNHH’s “Pundit Friday,” which also touched on the Go New Haven Go alternative-transportation challenge, acia bowls and African-Americans’ relationships to smoothies, and the possible evil brilliance of Donald Trump’s split-personality campaigning.
Why are these ill-informed "pundits" treating the incompetence of the school district's leadership like a game. One week they are comparing the superintendent to Clint Eastwood and now to some stupid character.
The generational harm that has been delivered to many parts of New Haven by its schools is not something to laugh about. These "pundits" are worse than ignorant, they are flippant.
What do we know?
We know that the board of education, before the superintendent's harshest critics joined, felt that Harries was mediocre.
We know that the current board of education has had several hours discussing his deficiencies behind closed doors and it is time for the public to be clued in. He has done so much wrong, the public should weigh in on the future of the children in this district.
We know that driving from event to event to jump in front of cameras does not impact the students and parents a single bit.
Grow up, "pundits." Your family ties shouldn't be as important as the future of the city.