Oscar James II

In early 2023, Newark Superintendent Roger Leon and his administrators were in a panic: North Star Academy, part of the highly-regarded public charter network called Uncommon Schools, had been approved by the Department of Education to expand by 450 seats. This expansion ran counter to Leon’s crusade to abolish public school choice in the city. So he took action.

As a lifelong member of the Newark community, I was glad  to read the recent Star-Ledger editorial which called out the facts about the plight of our children and validated what I’ve called out over and over again: Superintendent Roger Leon and his enablers are hurting our children’s education and future prospects for success.

What is the plan put forward by Newark Superintendent Roger Leon to raise the academic achievement of our children? He has no plan.

When I reached out to the NJ Department of Education’s Office of Fiscal Accountability and Compliance (OFAC) to ask them to investigate Newark Board of Education’s $4.5 million no-bid contract for a museum, I told my readers I would update them on a response. Here’s the update.

When the Newark school board voted to settle litigation it had started, it did more than stop senseless litigation. It broke the law. 

As a local real estate developer with over 13 years of experience in Newark, I know that one of the first items on the decision tree when evaluating a potential project is legal fees. In other words, you do the math to calculate whether a deal is worth your time and effort.

After a quarter-century of state control, in 2017 Newark Public Schools finally got the green light to get our district back. This was cause for great celebration as now the School Board, elected by voters, is no longer “advisory” but has full power to make decisions that are in the best interests of our students, parents, and community. How’s that working out?

When children began showing up at the Newark Board of Education in November of last year pleading for help, many of us were heartbroken.

As we approach the end of the school year, it’s worth looking back at a pattern that has emerged regarding Newark superintendent Roger Leon. While Newark district students fall further and further behind—currently only 13% of third-graders can read on grade-level—Leon is only looking at his wallet.