Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.
Leah Owens
Leah Owens was an at-large member of the Newark Public Schools Board of Education in New Jersey. Owens assumed office in 2016. Owens left office in 2019.
Owens ran for re-election for an at-large seat of the Newark Public Schools Board of Education in New Jersey. Owens lost in the general election on April 16, 2019.
Owens won the seat in the general election held on April 19, 2016.
Biography
Owens earned a bachelor's degree in English from Duke University and a master's degree in public administration from Rutgers University. She also obtained her New Jersey principal certification. As of 2016, Owens was a community organizer for New Jersey Communities United. She previously served as an English teacher with Teach for America and an adjunct professor at Rutgers. She founded Teachers as Leaders in Newark and was also a founding member of the Newark Education Workers Caucus. When she served on the school board, Owens also served on the advisory board of the Urban Education and Teacher Unionism Policy Project at New Jersey City University.[1]
Elections
2019
See also: Newark Public Schools, New Jersey, elections (2019)
General election
General election for Newark Public Schools Board of Education (3 seats)
The following candidates ran in the general election for Newark Public Schools Board of Education on April 16, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | A'Dorian Murray-Thomas (Nonpartisan) | 25.3 | 4,935 |
| ✔ | Shayvonne Anderson (Nonpartisan) | 23.3 | 4,542 | |
| ✔ |  | Tave Padilla (Nonpartisan) | 22.7 | 4,420 |
 | Leah Owens (Nonpartisan) | 7.5 | 1,466 | |
| Saafir Jenkins (Nonpartisan) | 6.3 | 1,223 | ||
 | Denise Cole (Nonpartisan) | 6.0 | 1,165 | |
 | Yolanda Johnson (Nonpartisan) | 3.0 | 592 | |
 | Maggie Freeman (Nonpartisan) | 1.8 | 360 | |
 | Priscilla Garces (Nonpartisan) | 1.5 | 295 | |
| Denise Ann Crawford (Nonpartisan) | 1.4 | 274 | ||
| Arlene Ramsey (Nonpartisan) | 0.9 | 180 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 25 | ||
| Total votes: 19,477 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2016
- See also: Newark Public Schools elections (2016)
Three of the nine seats on the Newark Public Schools Board of Education were up for at-large general election on April 19, 2016. No incumbents filed in the race. Newcomers Jason Dotson, Thomas Ellis, Carole Graves, Tamara Moore, Leah Owens, Tave Padilla, Jody Pittman, Juan Silva, George Tillman, Deborah Kim Thompson-Gaddy, Jimmie White, and former candidate Sheila Montague faced each other for the three seats. Owens, Padilla, and Thompson-Gaddy defeated the remaining candidates and won seats on the Newark board. All three of these candidates were members of the Newark Unity slate endorsed by Mayor Ras J. Baraka. There was no primary.[2]
| Newark Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 3-year terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Deborah Kim Thompson-Gaddy |
21.92% | 5,909 |
| Tave Padilla |
21.86% | 5,892 |
| Leah Owens |
18.62% | 5,018 |
| Sheila Montague | 9.56% | 2,576 |
| Carole Graves | 8.09% | 2,180 |
| Tamara Moore | 6.59% | 1,775 |
| Thomas Ellis | 3.32% | 896 |
| Jody Pittman | 2.95% | 794 |
| Juan Silva | 2.29% | 618 |
| George Tillman | 1.87% | 505 |
| Jimmie White | 1.68% | 452 |
| Jason Dotson | 1.25% | 338 |
| Total Votes | 26,953 | |
| Source: Essex County Clerk, "2016 School Board Election," accessed May 10, 2016 | ||
Funding
Owens reported $12,748.50 in contributions and $7,208.75 in expenditures to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.[3]
Additionally, Newark Unity Slate reported $37,825.00 in contributions and $25,304.97 in expenditures on a joint candidate committee campaign finance form as of April 14, 2016. The three candidates named on the form were Deborah Kim Thompson-Gaddy, Leah Owens, and Tave Padilla.[3]
Endorsements
Owens was endorsed in the election by New Jersey Communities United and Newark Unity Slate.[4][5]
Campaign themes
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Leah Owens did not complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Leah Owens participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on April 18, 2016:
| “ | If elected to school board, I hope to galvanize the community to regain local control and secure full funding for the Newark Public Schools District.[6][7] | ” |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues based on how they should be prioritized by the school board, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Each ranking could only be used once.
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in New Jersey. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | Ranking those seven issues is very difficult. The Newark Public Schools District has been underfunded since the change in state administration. This, and the expansion of charter schools in the city, has had a devastating impact on the District. Full funding and a moratorium on the expansion of charter schools will bring back the much needed resources for these other issues, i.e., special education, arts education, post-secondary readiness, providing teacher autonomy, and closing the achievement gap.[7] | ” |
| —Leah Owens (April 18, 2016) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer nine questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are highlighted in blue and followed by the candidate's responses. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions. The candidate was also provided space to elaborate on their answers to the multiple choice questions.
| Should new charter schools be approved in your district? (Not all school boards are empowered to approve charter schools. In those cases, the candidate was directed to answer the question as if the school board were able to do so.) |
|---|
| No. The Newark Public Schools Board of Education is not empowered to approve charter schools seeking application the City of Newark; no district in the State of New Jersey is. This is undemocratic and has contributed greatly to the instability of NPS. Charter schools in Newark are educating nearly 40% of the student population and are poised to bring in an even larger percentage. As a result, NPS is facing a $50 million budget gap and there is a concentration of special needs students in the District far higher than any individual charter school. |
| Which statement best describes the ideal relationship between the state government and the school board? The state should always defer to school board decisions, defer to school board decisions in most cases, be involved in the district routinely or only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| The state should only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. Standardized tests are snapshots of students' learning; they do not tell the entire story. While some students do well on these kinds of assessments, others do not which is why I believe we should adopt performance assessments as well as standardized assessments. Standardized assessments have their place in allowing us to make general comparisons to other schools, districts, and states for the purposes of unearthing inequities in the way public education is delivered. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a poorly executed, top-down approach to education that solidified the narrowing of the curriculum. |
| How should the district handle underperforming teachers? Terminate their contract before any damage is done to students, offer additional training options, put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve or set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district? |
| Offer additional training options. Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. As a former teacher in Newark Public Schools, I know there are many factors that affect an educator's ability to teach. There must be an objective assessment tool and process used to evaluate teachers. Teachers should not be evaluated based on their students' test scores. Professional development must be ongoing and relevant. When teachers are treated as the professionals they are, it is easier to see who should and should not be in front of children. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. Education is a social process. We must take into account that teachers and other education workers help to shape the human development of children--that means every adult in the building has an affect on the children. How can use measure the effect of one teacher? Even though we have accepted benchmarks for child development, each child is different and should not be classified as a failure because she or he does not reach a particular benchmark at said time. So, how can teachers receive bonuses for that? Additionally, when merit pay is tied to standardized test scores, it has shown to corrupt the system as adults do not want to be seen as failing. Have you read about D.C. and Atlanta?? |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. Funding that leaves the public school district will only serve to further dismantle democratic public education. Education should be locally controlled by the residents of that community. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Expulsion should be used in the most serious infractions and in accordance with the law. Other instances of discipline should apply restorative justice to the situation so that our students are able to learn coping skills and know that they can be redeemed by changing their behavior. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| The curriculum Income equality. This outside factor is a better predictor of academic achievement than any in-school factor, so if we can affect this we can make change in the classroom as well. |
The following survey was included in a candidate profile written on Owens by the Newark Trust for Education.[8]
| “ | Based on your qualifications and experience, what makes you a suitable candidate to serve on the Newark Public Schools Advisory Board? I am a suitable candidate to serve on the Newark Public Schools Board of Education because I have the knowledge and skill set to determine effective education policy in addition to the commitment to secure justice for the children and families of Newark. I am a former educator in the Newark Public Schools District, so I know firsthand the challenges students and education workers face. As a teacher, I developed and implemented solutions. When I observed the Barringer auditorium full with students who arrived late to school, subsequently losing valuable learning time, I organized a group of teachers to rewrite the tardy policy so that students could still attend their first period class. I hold certification to be hired as a principal in New Jersey, so I understand a systems approach to strategic planning and budgeting. I am an activist and organizer in the community; I have been using my voice for nearly a decade to engage others in the social and political aspects of education. What are your reasons for running? Are you running with an organizational slate? If so, please provide information about your platform. What are your priorities for the district in the coming year? What attributes and qualifications do you consider essential for effective school board members? |
” |
See also
2019 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Newark Trust for Education, "Leah Owens," accessed April 11, 2016
- ↑ Mandy Gillip, "Email communication with Martha Jones, Newark district secretary to the superintendent," March 9, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, "Public Information," accessed June 24, 2016
- ↑ New Jersey Communities United, " NJ Communities United Statement Regarding Newark School Board Elections," accessed April 8, 2016
- ↑ Newark Unity Slate, "Newark Unity Slate Candidates," accessed April 8, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Leah Owens's responses," April 18, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Newark Trust for Education, "Leah Owens," accessed April 11, 2015
| 2016 Newark Public Schools Elections | |
| Essex County, New Jersey | |
| Election date: | April 19, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: Jason Dotson • Thomas Ellis • Carole Graves • Sheila Montague • Tamara Moore • Leah Owens • Tave Padilla • Jody Pittman • Juan Silva • George Tillman • Deborah Kim Thompson-Gaddy • Jimmie White |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
