UPDATE: Informal poll. What did Shakespeare write? “A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet,” or something like that. Should the new school to replace Harding High be named after President Obama? So says Mayor Bill Finch. The mayor hopes construction to replace Harding will begin this year on property owned by General Electric on Boston Avenue. Critics argue the site of an old munitions factory is too dirty for a school. The Board of Education, in a split vote, has signed off on the site. Supporters say the state has a remediation plan to address environmental concerns.
In an interview the other day with Steve Krauchick from Doing It Local (that was also picked up by News 8), the mayor said, “I would love to see the school named after the president, who has done so much. He created the Sustainable Communities Initiative, which brought us here today. He gave us $10 million for Steel Point, $10 million for our stem academy, our high school. He’s meant a great deal for the improved quality of life of the citizens of Bridgeport. The president who gave us Teapot Dome, or the president who gave us Steel Point, what would you prefer?”
Is a name change really an antiseptic? What say you? Leave the name Harding? What will the school board name it? Let us know your suggestions.
As a Warren Harding High School graduate, I will organize everyone I possibly can to ensure the school’s name is not changed. Not because I am a fan of President Warren Harding but because of the pride and nostalgia so many of us have for the high school we attended, graduated from and love. The only person I have heard speak in support of this is none other than Kenneth Moales Jr. I have repeatedly heard people speak against changing the name of the school. In addition, I believe new elementary schools should be named after local community leaders like Cesar Batalla and Geraldine Johnson, not individuals the average Bridgeport resident has absolutely no connection with.
Please take a look at this CT Post poll that was just put up this morning. The poll is on whether the name of Warren Harding High School should be changed to Obama High School. It is not looking too good for Mayor Finch.
blog.ctnews.com/connecticutpostings/2014/07/21/should-bridgeports-harding-high-be-obama-high/
6/27/2012:
OIB post: “Vallas: New Harding High School Poised For GE Property”
“Board of Education member Ken Moales has his own suggestion for naming the school. How about Barack Obama High School?”
Source link: onlyinbridgeport.com/wordpress/vallas-new-harding-high-school-poised-for-ge-property/
8/27/2012:
Page 10 of the Bridgeport BOE meeting notes:
“Rev. Moales suggested the name of the Harding High School be changed to Barack Obama High School. The superintendent agreed the name should be changed, but community input will be sought on the subject. Mr. Vallas added that design of the new Harding will be very impressive, including a large campus and sports stadium.”
Source link: www .bridgeportedu.com/Board/docs/2012-2013/Minutes/RegularBOEMinutes_8-27-12.pdf
NICE! Now let’s honor the president by putting children on a contaminated site. Love it!
Excellent point, BptPorter.
No true. The site will be remediated. The old site, however, is contaminated. I checked the red box in the main office. That box is full of paperwork that says Harding is contaminated.
Are you stating as fact the land the current Harding High School is built on is contaminated? James Holloway made that statement at a Facilities Committee meeting several months ago, therefore Linda Lambeck contacted DEEP to confirm his statement and requested copies of the test results. DEEP informed her the land had not been tested and they had no test results they could supply to her. Either DEEP is making misleading statements, or you are.
No, the building is contaminated. That box contains testing and documentation on KNOWN areas of contamination inside the building.
Well, as Lennie’s archives will attest, I have supported the new high school and suggested the name be changed to Barack Obama High School. Maria Pereira, no offense but do you really believe anyone going to that school will not support the new name? Warren Harding will no longer exist as any previous student knew it. Bridgeport moves into the 21st century and I have to say Mayor Finch thank you for hoping to rename the school. The sense of pride the black community will feel and the self esteem can not be measured. Kudos to Mayor Finch, it may be the first high school in the country named for one of the first progressive presidents we have had as history will ultimately reveal.
Mr. Auerbach, do you think it is appropriate for you to speak on behalf “of the pride the black community will feel and the self esteem cannot be measured.” Shouldn’t the “black” community speak for itself? Would you think it appropriate for me to speak on behalf of the Jewish community? Just so you are aware, those who have spoken at BBOE meetings against the name change have been “black.” I have spoken with several of my former classmates and they are all opposed to it. Three were “black” and one was Hispanic and black. How many people in the “black” community have specifically told you changing the name to “Obama High School” will give them a sense of pride and increase their self-esteem?
Maria, don’t you start a racist conversation for your new pal Mackey to engage in, you will lose. You will never get enough people to fight against the name Obama High School. You do not have to be black to understand black pride in naming the high school Barack Obama High. What’s more, maybe I should not even have acknowledged the obvious, black pride is not my agenda so forget I mentioned it. I love Obama and if everyone in that school was a white evangelical anti-Obama Christian I would still think it was a most appropriate name for a high school.
Mr. Auerbach, I never indicated or stated you were a racist and Ron Mackey and I have consistently taken opposing views on a variety of topics, not similar views. Accusing someone of racism is a very serious allegation and I have no evidence you are racist. I just thought it was highly inappropriate for you to speak on behalf of the black community. Those in the black community should speak for themselves. That was the point I was trying to make.
The question Maria, you have to ask yourself is this. How ignorant could one possibly be to believe the black community would not support the renaming of the High School? Maria, if you made the comment the Jewish Community supports a high school named after Moshe Dyan or Golda Meir, it would be a safe bet you are on the money. I can say naming the schools Cesar Batalla or Luis Marin was a huge sense of pride for the Hispanic community. I do not speak for the white community, Jewish Community, Gay community, Spanish Community, Italian Community, Vietnamese Community, Portuguese Community etc. etc. etc. I can only state the obvious, Maria. Do you know some black people who would not support Barack Obama High School? And finally, do you think black people are the only ones who support the name change as well as his presidency? Your comment simply is a very vain attempt to divide communities. You obviously believe you have some power, you really do not. I maintain renaming the school will be a source of pride for the entire city and I’m thinking maybe a few black people agree with me. I could be wrong. But I do not, I repeat I do not speak for any community as everyone on this blog. There is not one individual who can state that. I however feel like a member of all communities and your attempt to make me feel like an alien to anyone is a waste of time. I am as at home as the only white man in a room full of blacks as I am as the only English speaking person in a room full of Hispanics (truth be told, I speak Spanish). My point, when I comment, I am speaking from firsthand experience and the ability to acknowledge the obvious from all communities. You, not so much.
Mr. Auerbach, as I stated previously, the only black person I have heard state their support for changing the name of Harding High School to Obama High School is Kenneth Moales. Every single black person I have spoken with regarding the name change has been opposed to it. All of them are Harding High School graduates. This includes a woman over 80 years old.
Okay, so 10 people to 10,000. Obama High it is.
Thank you Maria for speaking on behalf of the African American community based on the input of three people.
🙂
Bob, nowhere in my statement did I reference the African American community. I referenced personal conversations I have had with Warren Harding High School alumni. After all, most people know you are not in position to speak on behalf of the African American community. It was you who contacted your African American colleague on the city council and demonstrated poor judgment by pretending to be a white slave master.
OMG Maria, you didn’t. The black community came out in support of Bob Walsh and knew not to take those comments to heart. You love stirring the racist pot.
There were many high-profile members who came to Bob’s defense knowing they were attempting to diminish his power as an outspoken maverick on the council.
We do not have to agree with Bob but we should be grateful he is not a follower.
Mr. Auerbach, here is the article written by the CT Post Editorial Board. I do not believe Bob Walsh is a racist. My comment references the “poor judgment” he demonstrated by leaving that outrageous message for his African American colleague. Wasn’t it your dear friend Mayor Finch who was “attempting to diminish his power as an outspoken maverick on the council?” I supported Bob’s standing up to the entrenched powers on the City Council, but no matter how you look at this incident, it clearly demonstrated “poor judgment.”
www .ctpost.com/default/article/Time-for-Walsh-to-step-aside-290032.php
Maria, please call me Steven and I find it humorous everyone on this blog thinks Mayor Finch is my dear friend. He may benefit from my support, but I can assure you he has never thanked me. I just acknowledge a job well done or my Marina Village mantra that will absolutely suffocate him as we get closer to the election as I have nothing to lose or gain other than acknowledging Marina Village is a very poor plan for Downtown Bridgeport. You’d think they would have waited until downtown had a chance to take off. Now they can use the Marina village replacement housing to attract other people to live, work and play downtown. I could easily walk and talk to the entire city discussing this travesty. I’m just saying. 🙂 I have received calls from many politicians, never from my good friend Bill Finch. I just thought I’d set the record straight for all the anti-Finch people. I am not on that train, but I am not supporting anyone just because they don’t like Finch.
If Mayor Finch were so passionate in naming a high school after Obama, he should have suggested Fairchild Wheeler be named Obama High School. I doubt there would have been little resistance to that suggestion. Instead, he is recommending Warren Harding High School, which has existed in our community for over 89 years and graduated thousands upon thousands of Bridgeport residents, should simply be vanquished. For those who attended Warren Harding High School, we always wore our “Harding Pride” on our sleeves. We have very accomplished individuals who graduated from Harding High School including Geraldine Johnson, Wes Mathews, Charles Smith, John Bagley, etc. You just don’t discard a piece of Bridgeport’s history like it is a piece of trash.
You know you are getting old when you start reading the obituaries on a daily basis. It amazes me how many accomplished individuals graduated from Harding, Bassick and Central High School. Obviously graduating from these schools means enough to graduates’ families these schools are often referenced in obituaries. Name the next elementary school after Obama, not Warren Harding High School.
On a side note, Obama’s education policies are an attack on true public schools like Warren Harding High School. He supports billionaires and millionaires’ efforts to significantly expand charter schools and privatize public education. Joe Biden’s brother also runs a large for-profit charter school chain. Obama supports the Common Core and expensive testing of students which is nothing more than a moneymaking scheme to make some of the wealthiest men in the world even wealthier. That would include Gates, Murdoch, Bloomberg, Broad, the Kochs, etc. Maybe there should be a charter school named after Obama, but he is no friend of true public education.
One loser wants to name a high school after another loser! LOL! You can’t make this stuff up! I think they should name it Richard Nixon High School. All the crooks should go for that! LOL!
I think Steve brings up a good point. It is not fair to say he is speaking on behalf of the black community. That is a pretty ignorant statement considering Obama is the first black president–duh, of course there is a sense of pride.
BptPorter, what is ignorant is anyone claiming that changing the name of Harding High School to Obama High School will raise the level of a black community member’s individual “self esteem.” I would hope one’s self esteem is based on one’s individual accomplishments or contributions to society, not the name placed on a school building.
in a perfect world, media portrayals of Latinos and African Americans as criminals would also not affect self esteem because self esteem should be the result of personal accomplishments. But we do not live in that perfect world.
I don’t know latin0s (as I don’t know any of them), but as a Puerto Rican I can say we are a very PROUD people no matter how we are portrayed by the media.
Think again.
The name on the school could mean everything!
Hey, Obama’s mother is white.
Ron, excellent point.
What does his mother being white mean? He isn’t black enough for you?
Hey, my mother’s white also.
But I wonder how the Latino community feels about this, though. Why not call the school Sotomayor High School?
Good point and a new school should be named after her. Cesar Batalla and Luis Marin however, was a start to acknowledge and represent Hispanic leadership.
There is no latin0 community.
Let’s have the kids who attend Harding come up with a name for the school. I would think naming a school after Obama would be premature.
Yes, good point. The students should do it.
Here he goes again, Finch dividing the community, creating controversy where it is totally unnecessary. Hey, a few years ago Finch was all over Frederick Olmstead and look at what he is trying to do to Olmstead’s Seaside now! I.e., the “Solar Array.” More division in the community compliments of Finch. Speaking of Obama, what is he doing on the issue of the Gaza Strip?
Obama is probably going to do in the Gaza Strip what he did in Syria. More American soldiers not involved.
Yes the students’ name is the new Jay Zee and Beyonce school of Business and Dance. While we are at it, let the students decide the curriculum as well as the dress code. Honestly, Chief Keef High School … Obama High School … Warren Harding High is being torn down.
Chief Keef.
Put to a vote among Warren Harding High, Barack Obama High or Chief Keef High.
I’ll bet anyone on this blog the results would be:
Warren Harding High School–8 percent
Chief Keef High School–42 percent
Barack H. Obama High School–50 percent
If 99 percent of you do not know Chief Keef, it is because you are out of touch with urban youth. The students keep me up to date on musical trends because they know I used to promote music in the late ’70s early ’80s.
I’m a traditionalist myself, not that it matters, but if I had a say in the matter, I’d keep it Warren Harding High. It’s been that way since it opened and everyone can relate to it, so why change? Just my opinion.
Godiva, Warren Harding High School is being knocked down. They are not putting a new sign on an old school. The students will be in a swing school for two years. Why shouldn’t the neighborhood and the students have a new beginning? The school as past graduates remember it will be gone. There are many recent grads who would like to forget. The reputation of Harding over the past 20 years has been abysmal. Why keep the name? Because Warren Harding was a great President? Because he is the face of the community? Because he was born and bred in Bridgeport? There is no reason in this generation he should be honored with a new school. A fresh start, a modern era President, an honor for the City.
Mr. Auberach, the students will not be attending a swing school at all. I don’t know of anyone who is not in support of building a new Harding High School. The neighborhood and students will have a new beginning because they will have modern facilities. You stated “there are many recent grads who would like to forget.” Is this based on your many conversations with “recent grads?” Warren Harding High School is certainly important to those of us who have graduated from the school. I also have three siblings who graduated from Harding High School. Harding represents an important period of our lives including fond memories, bad memories, Jr. Prom, Sr. Prom, Jr. Ring Dance, transitioning into adulthood, basketball championships, inspiring educators, etc. Warren Harding High School does stand for many positives, not just the negative.
It is based on many recent grads Maria, as well as those whose parents neglected to fill out paperwork for Central and Fairchild Wheeler. Yes yes yes. It was personal conversations with students. Yes. A new start with modern classrooms and no garbage lining the streets. Yes, a new beginning. I have many friends who graduated from Harding, most of them Jewish. They have no problem saying goodbye to a great memory knowing the forward spiral the school has taken. I wouldn’t ask the kids what name they would like but I’d bet if I asked the entire school who Warren Harding was, they wouldn’t be able to answer. Most do not even know the current vice President or Secretary of state. Yes Maria, because I asked them.
The school will not be there. It will not be the place of your Prom or Ring dance. It will be a different school in a different location. That is what yearbooks are for. If Bridgeport Hospital does not demolish the structure you can tell your grandkids you went to high school there and it was called Warren Harding High School. I have older friends (much 🙂 ) who graduated from Central High School at 45 Lyon terrace. Do you imagine they have any emotional ties to Lincoln Blvd? That was my alma mater. If they changed the name, I would not me emotionally destroyed. I loved Central.
Steve, the school was never where the Prom or Jr. Ring Dance were held, however those memories are attached to Harding High School, not Obama High School. Do you honestly believe there is ANY chance Bridgeport Hospital will not demolish Harding High School???
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought the usual practice of naming something for someone was done either after they died or left office. Harding High is a Bridgeport institution and should always be a part of the community. Obama will be out of office in 2016. I think the new Longfellow will be finished that year. Why not consider that school? Because the Harding building is being replaced, why should the name change? Enough of black pride, Jewish pride, white pride, Latino pride. it’s time for Bridgeport pride and let’s build up, not tear down our communities. We kept Barnum and Waltersville when new buildings were built. Finch needs to stop this obvious pandering to secure East Side and East End black votes. Harding probably was a bad president. It doesn’t mean the high school needs to be a bad place. Not everyone in Transylvania is a vampire!!!
Maybe Martin Luther King High School. A great name, a great leader and he is dead. G-d forbid we honor a progressive living president. How about Harriet Tubman High School? Harding is just being knocked down. A new school, a sense of pride for the City and the community. I could be very happy with all these choices.
independent soul, I agree with your comments wholeheartedly.
How about a compromise? Barack H. Obama High School and Harding Stadium. That way we have Central High School with Kennedy Stadium, unlike Bassick High School with no stadium.
Mr. Aurbach, I would be willing to support the reverse. Name the school Harding and the field Obama. I could support that and I think that is a fair compromise.
Maria, I will concede and compromise as well as agree. I could be happy with that scenario. Though to be clear, I like Barack H. Obama High School.
Weren’t you on the BOE when they changed their policy of not naming a school while someone is living and went ahead and named Geraldine Johnson School? And if you are now so opposed to naming Harding Obama, does that mean you would support renaming Johnson School?
Bob, I was not an elected BBOE member during the building or naming of Geraldine Johnson. This school was already built and open before I ever became involved with the BBOE. I also never mentioned whether it was acceptable to name a school after any living or deceased individual. I believe you are referencing a comment posted by independent soul. I have already stated my reasoning for continuing the tradition of Warren Harding High School.
MP–do you mean the tradition of failure associated with the name? CT’s #1 dropout factory. This way BPT would still have one of the largest factories in the nation. There is nothing bad about dropping that name and reputation.
SPY, you are incorrect. Bassick High School is a worse performing school than Harding. There are many high schools nationally that perform worse than our high schools. One only has to look at New Orleans, Chicago, Philadelphia, etc.; you know, Vallas’ old stomping grounds. For those of us who actually attended Harding and received our diplomas from Harding, it is bad.
Then BPT can have both, the first Obama HS and the largest dropout factory in the state. We should be very proud. Maybe we should just close the school and not open anything. From an educational point of view, would it matter if they went to a BOE high school or nothing?
This is a chance for a new start. Wipe the slate clean. New building, new name, new beginning. You will still have your HS diploma. You can put it in a little frame and place it on the mantle. For God’s sake Maria, you don’t have to instinctively oppose everything just because Finch wants it. It is just a high school. I would say your high school but it did not belong to you and the place has changed so much since you went there you probably wouldn’t recognize it. Personally, I could care less if my high school burned to the ground. It is not like graduating high school was my only or greatest life accomplishment. At least he did not want to name it after himself.
independent soul–you are correct. Harding was named after Harding left office. If we stick to this convention and wish to name the school after a president, we should name it George W. Bush HS. He was also born in New Haven CT, went to Yale in CT and he was a Senator from Connecticut.
Harding was a Republican who said “Our most dangerous tendency is to expect too much from the government and at the same time do too little for it” in his inauguration speech. Bush was also a Republican who enacted one of the administration’s early major initiatives, the No Child Left Behind Act, which aimed to measure and close the gap between rich and poor student performance.
BOE SPY,
When was George W. Bush a “Senator from Connecticut?”
Do you mean his grandfather Prescott Bush?
Were you “left behind?”
You are right. My reading comprehension is a product of a pre-charter public school system.
Way to take responsibility for yourself, BOE SPY. You are seemingly Libertarian, except when you need to blame a government entity for its failure to serve your needs (e.g., being able to read Wikipedia before posting on this site).
Shine on!
I went to school and got what I got. Just so you know. I can’t spell either. My grammar sucks as well.
Nonetheless. If we followed the naming convention that was used when we got Harding High, the new school should be called GW Bush HS. Their mascot could be a cricket. Their sports teams would be the Bush Crickets.
Pete Spain, LOL, LOL, LOL, now that’s good, Pete, he has to go to Google and Wikipedia before he can reply to someone’s post, what a joke, Mr. or Ms. no name.
Yeah, you got me. I am not an expert on GW Bush. I had to Google him to find out specific information about his life. I feel ashamed.
Finch Follies High School.
Liberalism is a Mental Disorder.
One-word question: Why? To turn something positive into a clusterf**k of opinions? Considering the very real fact time is money, don’t we have more pressing issues to spend mind time and tax dollars on? For the love of God when will this mayor get a clue? Can he rent one? Just for a little while?
Name a sewer FINCH.
And the road to it NO WAY NUNN DRIVEWAY that will empty into it.
Finch may suggest the name change but the community decides, along with their elected officials. Finch is looking to secure votes. MP, I am with you, as a former Harding graduate the name Harding should remain as such. Obama visited Bridgeport to gain support for Jim Himes. Remember the words of our Mayor, “guess who is coming to dinner.” I still could hear the crowds response. Not good. Maybe he is trying to redeem himself. Anyway, leave Harding alone. And you are correct Maria, there are several individuals who are not in favor of changing the name. They too wonder, why? What has Obama done for Bridgeport that is significant, memorable and inspiring? Nada!
Thank you, invincible. As a fellow alum, I really appreciate your support. I also agree Mayor Finch’s proposal to rename Warren Harding High School to Obama High School is nothing but a political ploy in an attempt to garner votes. Ultimately, it will be the nine BBOE members who have to vote on the matter, not Mayor Finch.
NO WAY, did Finch really say guess who’s coming to dinner?
Very clever. I’d laugh.
But Harding has!!! Right.
McKinley, Howe and Webster were all renamed and I do not remember ever hearing of who named the new schools or if there was a problem in the new naming.
I am not in favor of the naming after Obama, but would be in favor of making it nonpolitical like Jackie Robinson High School or Roberto Clemente High School and yes I did graduate from Harding High School and I am sick and tired of politics being involved in everything.
I am sick of politics in everything too, AMEN!
Allow me to change direction for a moment, yesterday actor James Garner died, he was best known in his roles in “Maverick” and “The Rockford Files.” I remember Mr. Garner for his involvement with the civil rights movement, the March on Washington in 1963.
Why don’t we reach a bit higher than Obama and name it after Jimmy Carter, the second-worse president.
No, GW Bush was probably worse than Carter. On top of that he brought us Obama. At least Carter brought us Reagan.
Jimmy Carter did start Habitat for Humanity and got Egypt and Israel to sign a peace treaty before both leaders were assassinated. That being said, Carter absolutely sucked. Interest rates at 17 percent. Obama on the other hand gave us healthcare, ended wars, the lowest interest rates in decades, the highest stock market ever, signing anti-discrimination bills, etc. etc. etc. I will only agree Carter sucked and thank G-d for Reagan, thank G-d for Clinton and Barack Obama will have accomplished more than them all combined when he leaves office. George W. was an idiot, enough said.
And now we can all vote on-line regarding the name change.
blog.ctnews.com/connecticutpostings/2014/07/21/should-bridgeports-harding-high-be-obama-high/
Why not name the new “TRAIN STOP” after OBAMA? At the very least we could get a glimpse of the President when he comes to laugh.
If you attached a polygraph cuff to Mayor Bill Finch and ask him to name a school, can you imagine any other name coming from him other than John F. Kennedy? Truthfully, I cannot.
So when President Obama’s name comes up and $20 Million of Federal taxpayer funds have been received, will that be enough (with an election on the horizon) to change your heart’s desire? What do you think? Time will tell.
John Marshall Lee, see, that was short and to the point and funny.
The funds were from a Shays earmark for Steel Point development. Obama only dispersed the funds already allocated and secured. Shays School it is!
Ron, JML and others who participate here who are not aligned with the Finch follies, we need to come together sooner rather than later on whom we endorse, why we think these candidates are best for Bridgeport, and who will have the highest likelihood of defeating the Finch follies. Equal parts transmission and reception. Too much transmission can scare off people.
Late to the party. Harding was the first president who advocated in a Birmingham AL speech promoting the belief and importance of the black vote in America.
www .worldissues360.com/index.php/warren-g-harding-and-the-fight-for-african-american-equality-3226/
My guess is Finch gets the name changed to Obama High and has the dedication right before the mayoral election, with Obama making an appearance and of course an endorsement of Finch. It could happen.