Roger the Dodger – Are Newark's Boys and Girls Attending School or Not?

Let's just get this out of the way. My post this week is going to be more than just a vent.  

I am going to share with you the rumblings I am now hearing about Roger Leon.  After my last blog, I received a boatload of information.  So here we go.

In reaction to my last blog, a friend who still works closely with one of Roger's deputies called me with some big news.  It looks like the State has put Newark back in its sights and is investigating the Superintendent and his school enrollment plan.   Yup, not good for Roger.

I also heard that Roger has now picked up a new nickname – Roger the Dodger - within some school level circles.  

This came up at a zoom meeting I attended, and the way it was explained to me, the nickname came about after the Superintendent decided to listen to John Abeigon and postponed school again.  The Dodger part comes from Roger's fear of making tough decisions. Also,  not good.

But it gets worse.  ChalkBeat Newark's piece about the District's inability to address absenteeism could not come at a worse time, and it sounds like folks at City Hall are not only concerned about this issue, but some of the wrong people were blindsided.

Now to be clear and real, I have no idea what the Mayor thinks about this. Still, it seems even more than this State investigation, Newark's chronic absenteeism is a real concern and is the issue more likely to affect whether Roger stays or goes.

I don't know enough about this supposed State investigation or the nickname thing, but like many Newark parents, this absenteeism has had upset me for a while.  

As you may remember, last September, I called Roger out for running around bragging to our State that Newark's school attendance had a 99.8% attendance.  At the time, it just did not sound right.  It sounded like a big fat lie, and it got me frustrated.

It now seems I was right.  

According to last week's ChalkBeat piece, the issue is far worse than Newark or the State realized, and many are concerned and rumbling about Leon's future has already started.

According to ChalkBeat, "More than 1 in 5 Newark students were chronically absent from remote learning this Fall, according to district data, meaning that thousands of students went missing from their virtual classrooms on a regular basis….3,000 of those students were "severely" chronically absent, according to the District's criteria, meaning they missed more than 9 school days — the equivalent of two weeks or more of class. If the pattern persists, those students will lose out on more than 30 school days by the end of this academic year."

So, somehow - Newark went from near 100% attendance in Spring to this?

Remember, after I blogged about this issue in September, Leon called me up and threatened to sue me – remember, I still have the audiotape of the conversation.

It looks like the information reported in Chalkbeat shows I had good reason to call him out.

More importantly, it now seems many others around Newark are now asking the same questions I did last Fall.

As I have admitted, since starting this blog, my own concerns and temperature about our School District have gone up, and this Winter that the temperature is now rising for many – as are the rumblings.

So here we go again.  We have all seen this movie before when Cami Anderson was here.  While I would not necessarily say we are in Cami territory, it looks like a Part II might be in development.

But regardless of the name-calling and the investigations, I think Roger can help his standing in Newark by being honest with us and answering this question - Are Our Boys and Girls Attending School or Not?

I started this blog to vent and share my worries about our city in the middle of a pandemic. As I have continued to reflect, write, and pray on my fears, it is clear that what keeps me up at night is the state of public education in Newark.

To both me, the blogger, and you, the reader, I continue to focus on Roger Leon, our Superintendent. This was originally not by design. I have known Roger for some time. He has worked in the school district for a long time. There is a history of friendship – and I celebrated the day he was finally selected to lead our school district as Superintendent. But since getting the job, a position he personally coveted for years, I have been in disbelief from what we have seen from him.

Take in point Roger's most recent announcement that our schools are not opening anytime soon.  

As appropriately headlined the NJ education blog New Jersey Left Behind, "In a Win for Newark Teachers Union, Schools Will Remain Closed Until April.

Instead of doing what is right for our families, Roger is taking his cues from one of Newark's most corrupt bosses in Newark, NTU President John Abeigon. 

All you have to do is look at the NTU website, where they boast, "The NTU continues to work closely with the Superintendent and the district's Reopening Taskforce." Or as Abeigon stated himself in ChalkBeat Newark. "Right now, we're doing everything in our power to try to stop it [opening Newark schools]."

Basically, Roger has allowed John Abeigon to sit at the table, whisper in his ear, and even pull the strings.

Whether it be the underage drinking he has promoted in Newark, the many stories going around strong-arming parents who disagree with him at School Board meetings, and doing all he can to put his interests and the hundreds of thousands of dollars he makes a year over the needs of our kids, Abeigon has a bit of a reputation, to say the least. And as most of us know, he has never met a parent he actually likes. Our needs and goals for our kids are most certainly not his priority. 

Seriously, this is the same guy insisting that we make it mandatory that our kids are vaccinated before coming back to school. I'll be damned if this guy is going to tell me how to parent.

So what does Roger do?  

Instead of making his own decision or listening to parents' needs in Newark, he again flip-flops and allows this guy to decide when we open schools.

Listen, we would not want someone like Abeigon anywhere near our kids, and sure as hell, I do not want him involved in the decision-making of when my kids are back in school. 

Just this week, an extremely powerful piece made its way into many of Newark's social media groups. Please take a look if you have a moment.  

As stated, "An estimated 3 million students may have dropped out of school learning since March, according to Bellwether Education Partners, a national nonprofit that focuses on underserved youth. The group's study cited a lack of Internet access, housing insecurity, disabilities, and language barriers as major obstacles to attending virtual classes during the pandemic."

It's time for a plan, not a puppet as our Superintendent.  

I deeply worry that, based on his actions and erratic decisions, Roger has reached a point where he is in way over his head and flailing.  

What I am seeing is NOT the Roger I know and is certainly not the person who met privately with so many of us, wishing that someday he could one day become Superintendent.

Roger, stop listening to John Abeigon and start listening to Newark's parents!