Sorry Roger, the Trump-like Threats and Intimidation Will Not Stop the Voices of Parents

Yesterday, I posted my third blog post.

In it, I reacted to this story in Chalkbeat – https://newark.chalkbeat.org/2020/9/23/21452648/newark-remote-learning-attendance-spring

I found it laughable that Superintendent Leon was reporting in the middle of a global pandemic that Newark school attendance was 99.8%. 

I mean come on, really?  99.8%. 

Well, guess what?

Within four minutes of posting that blog – guess who called screaming at me – Newark Superintendent Roger Leon. 

Yup.  No joke.

Leon was on fire!  He tried to intimidate me.  He threatened me.  And he even said he was going to sue me!

This call went on for 25 minutes – until I respectfully asked to end the call.

He got so nuts that about 10 minutes into the call, I could not believe what I was hearing, so I started taping the call.  Yes, I have it on tape, everyone.

Let’s think about this, Newark.  We are in the middle of a global pandemic.  Parents are struggling.  Teachers are working so hard.  There is work to be done.  Yet, somehow Roger Leon has the time to call me four minutes after I posted my blog to yell at me and threaten me – for 25 mins?

Leon is the Superintendent of Newark.  Doesn’t he have anything more important to deal with?  I don’t get it.

So why am I now sharing this publicly? 

Well, first of all when he called me he threatened my freedom of speech with a lawsuit.  Second, tried to intimidate me by associating my words with the ridiculous action of other people.  The bottom line is this, he can’t shut down my voice.

I would have welcomed a real, productive conversation with Leon, but that was not his intent in calling me.  Instead, he threw a tirade like an angry 2nd grader. 

Trust me, I know firsthand, it does no good for a public official to be so thin skinned. Many of you remember my time in office.

Another thought came to my mind listening to Roger yesterday, what is it about him and suing everyone?

Look at the record, he has inserted our school district in a wide variety legal cases, many of which have nothing to do with our kids and have paid for by our tax dollars.

My friends at the Newark Housing Authority have shared with many of us around the City that Leon has forced the NHA to budget hundreds of thousands of tax payer dollars for a variety of school building lawsuits and no one really understand what he is even doing.  That’s hundreds of thousands of dollars in the taxpayers money! 

I am sure those hundreds of thousands of dollars could be used much better, like purchasing computers for Newark’s kids.

So for speaking my mind, I am now on a long list of people Leon is planning to sue.

What is going on here people? Enough of the lawsuits.  Enough of the threats. 

Let’s keep this real –

We have a Superintendent who threaten lawsuits at every turn.

He provides us questionable school data in the middle of a pandemic.

He bullies people who disagrees with him.

He is very thin skinned.

And he has ignored the needs and concerns of our most at-risk families during a global pandemic.

That sounds a lot like Donald Trump to me.

I am just a parent, but here is some advice.  Roger, stop acting like Trump and start acting like a Newarker. 

Focus on our kids – not me.

A couple of weeks ago I began this blog with a single purpose.  As a life-long Newarker and as a parent, I did not like seeing what was going on in our city – especially as we confront this global pandemic. 

During the last few months, parents in Newark have really lacked information about our school system.  We have questions that are not getting answered.  Our families have being forced to choose between buying food or technology so kids can participate in our public schools.  In some cases, our kids have been home alone all day.  Parents are struggling like never before.  And most of all, our distant learning programs have been very confusing and unorganized for kids.  

I love this city and as a Father I have truly been losing sleep over all of this and I know many in my community feel the same.  So I decided to start a blog to share my feelings.

No offense to anyone who might be offended, but I am sorry, it has been frustrating to be a parent and having my kid in the Newark Public Schools right now.  Should we not talk about this?  Am I not allowed?  Shouldn’t something be done?

One thing I won’t be losing sleep over is Roger Leon calling me and yelling at me for 25 minutes.  Just like you Roger I was born here and you know Newarkers don’t back down!

Roger, please focus less on me and more on just doing your job.

Btw, someone remind me to change my cell phone number.