{"id":567,"date":"2018-05-23T20:01:13","date_gmt":"2018-05-23T20:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/?p=567"},"modified":"2018-07-07T17:44:57","modified_gmt":"2018-07-07T17:44:57","slug":"former-principal-roger-leon-chosen-as-newarks-new-superintendent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/23\/former-principal-roger-leon-chosen-as-newarks-new-superintendent\/","title":{"rendered":"Former principal Roger Leon chosen as Newark\u2019s new superintendent"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Patrick Wall<\/p>\n<p>Former principal and veteran administrator Roger Leon has been chosen as Newark\u2019s new schools chief\u00a0\u2014 its first since the city regained control of its schools.<\/p>\n<p>In a unanimous vote Tuesday night, the school board chose Leon \u2014 a Newark native backed by local elected officials \u2014 over two candidates with extensive experience in other large urban districts, but whose outsider status put them at a disadvantage. The son of Cuban immigrants, Leon takes the reins of a system whose population has become increasingly Hispanic: At 46 percent of the Newark Public Schools enrollment, Hispanic students now outnumber black students, who make up 44 percent of the enrollment.<\/p>\n<p>In opting for Leon, the board also passed over A. Robert Gregory, another former Newark principal and the district\u2019s interim superintendent, who rose through the ranks under the previous state-appointed superintendent, Christopher Cerf \u2014 which some critics saw as a blemish on his record. The board actually picked Leon as superintendent once before,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nj.com\/essex\/index.ssf\/2015\/06\/cerf_reference_draws_boos_at_newark_school_board_m.html\">in 2015<\/a>. But the state education commissioner, who still controlled the district at that time, ignored the board\u2019s choice and appointed Cerf.<\/p>\n<p>The board\u2019s decision to again tap Leon seemed to signal a definitive break from the era of sweeping, controversial changes enacted by outsiders \u2014 namely, Cerf and his predecessor, Cami Anderson. Instead, after the state ended its decades-long takeover of the district in February and put the board back in charge of the schools, the board\u2019s choice for superintendent suggests that it will rely on local talent and ideas to guide New Jersey\u2019s largest school system in the new era of local control.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter 22 years of being under state control, this is a new day,\u201d said School Board Chair Josephine Garcia after Tuesday\u2019s vote. \u201cWe look forward to working with the new superintendent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Leon grew up in Newark\u2019s Ironbound neighborhood, where he attended the Hawkins Street School. He graduated from Science Park High School, the highly competitive magnet school, where he returned as a substitute math teacher while still a student at Rutgers University. He later coached the school\u2019s renowned debate team.<\/p>\n<p>He went on to teach middle-school algebra, then became principal of Dr. William H. Horton School and later University High School of the Humanities. For the past decade, he has been an assistant superintendent in the district.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Patrick Wall Former principal and veteran administrator Roger Leon has been chosen as Newark\u2019s new schools chief\u00a0\u2014 its first since the city regained control of its schools. In a unanimous vote Tuesday night, the school board chose Leon \u2014 a Newark native backed by local elected officials \u2014 over two candidates with extensive experience [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[23,2,19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Former principal Roger Leon chosen as Newark\u2019s new superintendent - NEWARK SPEAKS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/23\/former-principal-roger-leon-chosen-as-newarks-new-superintendent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Former principal Roger Leon chosen as Newark\u2019s new superintendent - NEWARK SPEAKS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Patrick Wall Former principal and veteran administrator Roger Leon has been chosen as Newark\u2019s new schools chief\u00a0\u2014 its first since the city regained control of its schools. In a unanimous vote Tuesday night, the school board chose Leon \u2014 a Newark native backed by local elected officials \u2014 over two candidates with extensive experience [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/23\/former-principal-roger-leon-chosen-as-newarks-new-superintendent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWARK SPEAKS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NewarkSpeaks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-05-23T20:01:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-07-07T17:44:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Former-principal-Roger-Leon-chosen-as-Newark\u2019s-new-superintendent.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"548\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Newark Speaks\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newarkspeaks\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newarkspeaks\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Newark Speaks\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/23\/former-principal-roger-leon-chosen-as-newarks-new-superintendent\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/23\/former-principal-roger-leon-chosen-as-newarks-new-superintendent\/\",\"name\":\"Former principal Roger Leon chosen as Newark\u2019s new superintendent - NEWARK SPEAKS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-05-23T20:01:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-07-07T17:44:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1afe9ded6965cbbcf15babd7e80058dc\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/23\/former-principal-roger-leon-chosen-as-newarks-new-superintendent\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/23\/former-principal-roger-leon-chosen-as-newarks-new-superintendent\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/23\/former-principal-roger-leon-chosen-as-newarks-new-superintendent\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Former principal Roger Leon chosen as Newark\u2019s new superintendent\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/\",\"name\":\"NEWARK SPEAKS\",\"description\":\"Newark&#039;s Current News and Discussions...All In One Place\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1afe9ded6965cbbcf15babd7e80058dc\",\"name\":\"Newark Speaks\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d33d91c86d76b5cefa553c40fc994cc7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d33d91c86d76b5cefa553c40fc994cc7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Newark Speaks\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/author\/newark-speaks\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Former principal Roger Leon chosen as Newark\u2019s new superintendent - NEWARK SPEAKS","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/23\/former-principal-roger-leon-chosen-as-newarks-new-superintendent\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Former principal Roger Leon chosen as Newark\u2019s new superintendent - NEWARK SPEAKS","og_description":"By Patrick Wall Former principal and veteran administrator Roger Leon has been chosen as Newark\u2019s new schools chief\u00a0\u2014 its first since the city regained control of its schools. In a unanimous vote Tuesday night, the school board chose Leon \u2014 a Newark native backed by local elected officials \u2014 over two candidates with extensive experience [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/23\/former-principal-roger-leon-chosen-as-newarks-new-superintendent\/","og_site_name":"NEWARK SPEAKS","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NewarkSpeaks\/","article_published_time":"2018-05-23T20:01:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-07-07T17:44:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":548,"url":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Former-principal-Roger-Leon-chosen-as-Newark\u2019s-new-superintendent.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Newark Speaks","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@newarkspeaks","twitter_site":"@newarkspeaks","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Newark Speaks","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/23\/former-principal-roger-leon-chosen-as-newarks-new-superintendent\/","url":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/23\/former-principal-roger-leon-chosen-as-newarks-new-superintendent\/","name":"Former principal Roger Leon chosen as Newark\u2019s new superintendent - NEWARK SPEAKS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-05-23T20:01:13+00:00","dateModified":"2018-07-07T17:44:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1afe9ded6965cbbcf15babd7e80058dc"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/23\/former-principal-roger-leon-chosen-as-newarks-new-superintendent\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/23\/former-principal-roger-leon-chosen-as-newarks-new-superintendent\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/23\/former-principal-roger-leon-chosen-as-newarks-new-superintendent\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Former principal Roger Leon chosen as Newark\u2019s new superintendent"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/","name":"NEWARK SPEAKS","description":"Newark&#039;s Current News and Discussions...All In One Place","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1afe9ded6965cbbcf15babd7e80058dc","name":"Newark Speaks","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d33d91c86d76b5cefa553c40fc994cc7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d33d91c86d76b5cefa553c40fc994cc7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Newark Speaks"},"url":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/author\/newark-speaks\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=567"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":569,"href":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567\/revisions\/569"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}