Roger León grew up the son of immigrants, a welfare recipient, and, perhaps most importantly, a Newark kid with big dreams. Now, as superintendent of the city’s schools, he leads a district filled with kids who grew up like him. As superintendent, he oversees more than 40,000 students and over 3,000 teachers—that’s 18 high schools, 42 elementary schools and 5 specialized schools. In a district that is majority Latino, León is the first ever Latino superintendent.
Seven years after León was named superintendent at age 49, the Newark school system still faces a host of challenges. On the flip side, it has also seen the highest enrollment growth out of any of the 78 largest urban school districts in the country, and chronic absenteeism is on the decline.
“I like to think of a superintendent as a person that actually helps the dreams of children become real,” León says. “In turn, I ask my students to dream big.”
León’s story started out like that of many Newark residents. His parents came to the city from Cuba in the 1960s. They divorced when León was a toddler, leaving his mother, who didn’t speak English and had no family in the country, to care for him and his three older sisters. Government assistance supported León into his young adult life, but his greatest beacon of hope was education.
“My mom taught us that an education was the most important thing that we could receive and achieve,” he says. “It was always about having high expectations for ourselves.”
After coming up through the Newark schools and receiving degrees at Rutgers and Montclair State, León returned home. He taught fifth grade at Hawkins Street School, one of his alma maters, and coached the championship debate team at Science Park High School before teaching algebra at Rafael Hernández Elementary School. He then quickly rose through the ranks of the administration as principal of Dr. William H. Horton School and University High School of the Humanities, before serving as assistant schools superintendent.
León began his tenure as superintendent during a momentous time for the Newark public schools. Twenty-five years after an investigation that revealed safety issues and obsolete curricula led to a state takeover, control of the schools would be returning to local officials.
It was a fresh start for Newark’s public schools, and León jumped at the opportunity. Under his leadership, the board of education facilitated the transition to local control and crafted an ambitious 10-year strategic plan. A greater focus on early childhood development and education, more teachers and reduced chronic absenteeism are the immediate goals, but the ultimate objective is to have graduates return to Newark and contribute to the community.
The superintendent says he enjoys frequent communication with students and parents, calling his quarterly meetings with them the most rewarding part of his job. He also says teachers, students, parents and community members were heavily involved in crafting the 10-year plan. “They enable me to have a quality-control check to assess to what degree we’re actually doing what I’m saying we’re doing,” León says.
His tenure hasn’t been without its bumps. Parents felt they weren’t well-enough informed about his contract renewal in 2022; he’s also been criticized for the district’s use of funds and low student academic performance. Some have also condemned charter school closures under León.
The criticism comes as the majority of Newark students are still performing below grade-level proficiency in core subjects. León acknowledges the need to raise test scores, but also stresses that exam results aren’t a direct indicator of a student’s proficiency in reading and other areas.
As Newark embarks on the second half of its 10-year plan, León’s mission remains focused. “We want to change the trajectory of our students’ lives so they can be agents of change and help make not only our city, but our state and the country even better,” he says.
