{"id":902,"date":"2018-07-03T05:17:17","date_gmt":"2018-07-03T05:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/?p=902"},"modified":"2018-07-05T12:11:41","modified_gmt":"2018-07-05T12:11:41","slug":"homegrown-educator-charting-new-course-for-newark-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newarkspeaks.com\/index.php\/2018\/07\/03\/homegrown-educator-charting-new-course-for-newark-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"HOMEGROWN EDUCATOR CHARTING NEW COURSE FOR NEWARK SCHOOLS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Roger Le\u00f3n, the ultimate Brick City insider, gets chance to chart course for school district as era of state control has ended<\/h3>\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/p>\n
Credit: Chalkbeat\/Patrick Wall<\/em><\/h6>\n
Newark’s new superintendent, Roger Le\u00f3n, at a graduation ceremony in June<\/em><\/h6>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

At the start of the school year in 1983, a student named Roger Le\u00f3n sat with the other ninth-graders at Science High School waiting for the principal of Newark\u2019s premier magnet school to arrive and welcome them.<\/p>\n

Finally, Le\u00f3n, the child of Cuban immigrants whose mother spoke only Spanish at home, grew tired of waiting for an adult to take charge.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoger, God bless him, got up and started the whole meeting,\u201d said Christine Taylor, the president of Newark\u2019s principals union, who heard the story from a teacher who was present that day.<\/p>\n

After that, Le\u00f3n became a star of the school\u2019s famed debate team, then a debate coach, a classroom teacher, a principal, a high-ranking administrator within the system\u2019s central office, and, beginning July 1, superintendent of the Newark school system with its 36,000 students and roughly $1 billion budget. It\u2019s the role he seems to have been preparing for his entire life.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoger wanted to be the superintendent when he came out of the womb,\u201d Taylor said. Le\u00f3n, who is 49, is assuming the post at a historic moment. Earlier this year, the state concluded its decades-long takeover of the district, leaving behind a higher-performing school system but also a community that is exhausted \u2014 some say traumatized \u2014 by outsiders promising transformative change. It\u2019s a transition that districts from New Orleans to Paterson are navigating as states hand back control to local school boards that are, in theory at least, attuned to their communities\u2019 needs and accountable to voters.<\/p>\n

First time in years<\/h2>\n

In May, Newark\u2019s elected school board chose Le\u00f3n to become the new superintendent \u2014 the first time that board members, rather than state overseers, have made that decision in more than 20 years.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Roger<\/p>\n
Credit: Chalkbeat\/Patrick Wall<\/div>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

In Le\u00f3n, the board found the ultimate insider: a lifelong Newarker who has attended and worked in the city\u2019s public schools his entire life \u2014 even during college, when he became a substitute teacher at his former high school. Now, it falls on him to prove that a locally led district can innovate and achieve at high levels, while partnering with the community and eschewing the corruption that helped trigger the state takeover \u2014 to make Newark \u201ca beacon of light and hope for our urban districts,\u201d\u00a0as Le\u00f3n has promised<\/span>.<\/p>\n

But even before officially starting Monday, Le\u00f3n already got a taste of how hard that will be.<\/p>\n

On a Friday afternoon in June, he sent word to 31 district employees \u2014 including some top officials hired by the past superintendent \u2014 that\u00a0they could resign or be fired<\/span>. The move was hailed by some of Le\u00f3n\u2019s many supporters as a necessary housecleaning. But critics were disturbed by the swiftness and severity of the cuts, which included several lower-level administrators with ties to Le\u00f3n\u2019s predecessors, raising questions about whether the overhaul was about score-settling, not just reorganizing.<\/p>\n

Board blocks him from firing several staffers<\/h2>\n

The shake-up also exposed the complicated dynamic between Le\u00f3n and the school board, where some members had supported a different candidate for superintendent before agreeing to vote unanimously for Le\u00f3n. Last week,\u00a0in a display of their new authority<\/span>, some members shot down a few of Le\u00f3n\u2019s cabinet picks and blocked him from firing several of the 31 staffers.<\/p>\n

Now, as Le\u00f3n shakes off that setback and steps officially into his new role as superintendent, he is expected to announce his vision and 100-day plan. Supporters of the city\u2019s charter schools, some of whom fear a frostier relationship with Le\u00f3n than his predecessors, will be watching closely, along with local business and philanthropic leaders who worry about the district backsliding academically or succumbing to politics. Just as vigilant will be the community activists who expect Le\u00f3n to reject the tactics of the self-described reformers under state control who closed troubled schools and encouraged the growth of charters, and the families counting on Newark\u2019s native son to take the district to new heights.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are very high expectations,\u201d said Wilhelmina Holder, a longtime Newark activist and fan of Le\u00f3n. \u201cThey expect him to be superman.\u201d<\/p>\n

From \u2018underdog\u2019 to homegrown leader<\/h2>\n

Le\u00f3n\u2019s life has been defined by Newark, where he was born after his parents arrived from Cuba in 1966. \u201cIt is the only city that I know, and it is the only city that I love,\u201d he said at a graduation ceremony in June.<\/p>\n

He and his three older sisters were raised by their mother in the Ironbound neighborhood, which is home to many Spanish and Portuguese-speaking immigrants. He attended the elementary school around the corner from his house, Hawkins Street School, where he would later return to teach fifth grade.<\/p>\n

At Science High School, he joined the renowned debate team. As a senior, he helped defeat the team from affluent Princeton High School to win the state championships. He saw himself not just as a competitor but also as an ambassador for his city, said Jonathan Alston, Le\u00f3n\u2019s former teammate who now coaches debate at the renamed Science Park High School.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe always knew that we were the underdogs,\u201d Alston said. \u201cThat people would hear the name Newark and think negative things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"Roger<\/p>\n
Credit: Chalkbeat\/Patrick Wall<\/em><\/h6>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

Le\u00f3n coached the Science High debate team for eight years before becoming a teacher and, when he was just 28 years old, the principal of Horton Street School in Newark\u2019s largely Hispanic North Ward. In 2001, after helping to revamp that school, he was transferred to University High School, an underperforming magnet school in the predominantly black South Ward.<\/p>\n

At University, he added 19 Advanced Placement courses in everything from Latin to sociology to women\u2019s studies, while extending the school\u2019s hours and offering Saturday classes.<\/p>\n

Beloved by many former students<\/h2>\n

On the school intercom most mornings, he quoted from an inspirational poem about teaching called\u00a0\u201cThe Star Polisher,\u201d<\/a><\/span>\u00a0telling students that they were \u201cstars\u201d and faculty that their job was to make students \u201cshine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery child\u2019s a genius,\u201d Le\u00f3n told Chalkbeat in an interview earlier this year, pointing out the star-shaped lapel pin he still wears in honor of that poem. \u201cIt\u2019s the responsibility of every adult who interacts with them to prove that to the student.\u201d<\/p>\n

Le\u00f3n is beloved by many of his former students. They recall how he bought them dinner when they stayed late rehearsing a school play or rewarded their good grades with trips to Broadway musicals.<\/p>\n

John Brown, who graduated in 2005, said Le\u00f3n was also a fierce advocate for his students. When the staff at a local hospital would not permit the teenager to visit his mother in the emergency room, Le\u00f3n drove Brown back to the hospital and demanded that he be allowed in. \u201cHe went off on everyone in the ER from the doctor to the nurses to the security guard,\u201d Brown said. \u201cNext thing I know, I was back there with my mother.\u201d<\/p>\n

But as much as Le\u00f3n supported his students, he could also be uncompromising. He occasionally kicked out students who violated the rules, according to Noelle Jordan, who graduated in 2007. \u201cHe didn\u2019t take any mess,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

He was similarly demanding of his staff. Former colleagues said he made it clear to teachers when they weren\u2019t meeting his expectations. If they continued to underperform, he would get them to leave. \u201cHe develops people; he gives them an opportunity to fail forward,\u201d said Mario Santos, principal of East Side High School. \u201cBut if you\u2019re not cutting it, and you\u2019re not doing right by kids, then it\u2019s an easy decision for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Long climb to the top<\/h2>\n

Le\u00f3n\u2019s ascension to schools chief has been long in the making. Since 2007, he has served as an assistant superintendent under four consecutive state-appointed superintendents and one interim chief \u2014 a testament to his deep knowledge of the district, as well as his political survival skills. During that time, he worked closely with the community. He met regularly with parent groups and enlisted clergy members, university officials, and school leaders to help rewrite district policies, which included raising the district\u2019s graduation requirements and making report cards easier to read.<\/p>\n

He also developed a reputation as a taskmaster, with flashes of a hot temper, according to former colleagues. Working from his office late into the night, he issued directives and demanded compliance. One former principal said that when she insisted on sticking with the summer reading books her school always used, rather than switching to new ones ordered by the district, Le\u00f3n threatened to write up the principal and transfer the head of her English department to another school.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoger could make your life very miserable if he chooses to,\u201d the former principal said. Le\u00f3n told Chalkbeat that schools were required to follow the district\u2019s summer reading list but could add to it if they chose.<\/p>\n

Even as Le\u00f3n fully immersed himself in his role as assistant superintendent, he kept his sights on his dream job.<\/p>\n

Sidelined by previous administration<\/h2>\n

\u201cHe always used to say, \u2018I\u2019m going to be superintendent one day,\u2019\u201d said Kathy DiChiara, a former administrator who worked in the district\u2019s central office at the same time as Le\u00f3n. (She was also his calculus teacher at Science High School, where she recalled his \u201ctremendous self-confidence.\u201d)<\/p>\n

In 2015, the school board, which only had advisory powers then, voted for Le\u00f3n to become superintendent. But the state ignored its recommendation and appointed Christopher Cerf, who kept Le\u00f3n in his administration but largely sidelined him, leaving Le\u00f3n with tasks \u2014 such as writing proclamations to honor exceptional students \u2014 that were detached from district policy.<\/p>\n

But his fortunes changed after Cerf stepped down in February. In the race to replace him, Le\u00f3n beat out two applicants who have led large urban districts, as well as Newark\u2019s interim superintendent, A. Robert Gregory. Le\u00f3n got some help from his longtime supporter, state Sen. Teresa Ruiz, who\u00a0intervened in the selection process\u00a0<\/span>by pressuring the state education commissioner to replace a member of the search committee and revise the selection rules. But with the Newark school board making the choice this year, rather than officials in Trenton, he also benefited from his popularity among parent leaders, educators, and activists across the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoger\u2019s like a rock star,\u201d said Charles Love, a former parent organizer and school-board candidate. \u201cHe\u2019s been in all the rooms.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has given assurances to charter schools<\/h2>\n

In the five weeks since his selection, Le\u00f3n has been meeting with parents and activists, religious leaders, and labor officials \u2014 a way of shoring up support and workshopping policy ideas. On Wednesday, he assured charter school leaders that he does not plan to boot their schools from the district\u2019s enrollment system, according to a person briefed on the meeting, despite calls to do so from critics who say the joint district-charter admissions system was designed to funnel students into charter schools.<\/p>\n

Yet Le\u00f3n has avoided meeting individually with the district\u2019s top officials, who had hoped to brief him on their work but have mostly been unable to get his ear, according to two district employees. Several of those officials were among the 31 Le\u00f3n sought to force out, which they learned through intermediaries or emails; Le\u00f3n did not inform them himself.<\/p>\n

In an emailed response, Le\u00f3n said he held a meeting with the entire leadership team on May 30, received reports in June about each department\u2019s planned work for the coming school year, and held follow-up meetings as necessary.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Le\u00f3n has been looking forward to the day when he, \u201ca little boy from the \u2018hood,\u201d will take charge of New Jersey\u2019s largest school district, as he told the graduates of KIPP Newark Collegiate Academy at their June commencement ceremony.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the charter school graduates in a hotel ballroom just a few blocks from Newark Public Schools headquarters, Le\u00f3n said he understood their nervousness as they, like him, embarked on a momentous journey. He insisted that they need not fear failure because they are up to the challenges ahead \u2014 and because, \u201cWe are in Newark, New Jersey, my people, and that is not in our vocabulary,\u201d he said to cheers.<\/p>\n

Instead, he suggested, what is keeping him up at night is the awesome power over children\u2019s lives that he is about to inherit. \u201cWe are scared,\u201d he went on, \u201cbecause of what we are about to do, and how profound its impact will be.\u201d<\/p>\n

By Patrick Wall<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Roger Le\u00f3n, the ultimate Brick City insider, gets chance to chart course for school district as era of state control has ended Credit: Chalkbeat\/Patrick Wall Newark’s new superintendent, Roger Le\u00f3n, at a graduation ceremony in June At the start of the school year in 1983, a student named Roger Le\u00f3n sat with the other ninth-graders […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":919,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[2,19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nHOMEGROWN EDUCATOR CHARTING NEW COURSE FOR NEWARK SCHOOLS - 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\/07\/03\/homegrown-educator-charting-new-course-for-newark-schools\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"HOMEGROWN EDUCATOR CHARTING NEW COURSE FOR NEWARK SCHOOLS - 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