Bill Rojas

Waldemar "Bill" Rojas is a former superintendent at the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) and the Dallas Independent School District (DISD).

Early career

In 1968 began his education career in the New York City Board of Education (NYCBOE), beginning as a teacher and rising to the chancellor's executive assistant.[1] After becoming head of SFUSD, in 1994 President of the United States Bill Clinton appointed him to the Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans.[2] In 1999 Bess Keller of Education Week described Rojas as "peppery".[3]

Dallas Independent School District

He began his term as DISD superintendent on August 1, 1999.[4] The hiring vote on April 22, 1999 by the DISD board was unanimous.[3] His salary was $260,000, the highest of any U.S. school superintendent.[5]

The relationship with the board deteriorated after he publicly criticized two board members at a news conference after it rejected his proposal to have Edison Schools operate schools.[6] The board called a special meeting on whether to fire him, and Rojas chose to go on vacation to see his family, publicly defending himself and stating he would not resign.[5] He was fired effective July 5, 2000.[4] The vote to remove him was seven to one. He announced plans to file a lawsuit accusing two board members of defaming him, but received a settlement of $135,000,[6] after the DISD board agreed to do so in 2002.[7] This is on top of a $90,000 severance package.[8]

Rojas maintained that he had a positive impact on the district during his tenure.[6]

Post-DISD

After his DISD tenure he became the vice president of Advantage Schools. Circa 2012 he resided in the state of Florida.[6]

References
  1. "Dr. Waldemar "Bill" Rojas". Hispanic Border Leadership Institute. Arizona State University. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
  2. "PRESIDENT NAMES WALDEMAR ROJAS TO THE PRESIDENT'S ADVISORY COMMISSION ON EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE FOR HISPANIC AMERICANS". Office of the Press Secretary, the White House. 1994-11-17. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
  3. "Rojas To Leave S.F. District for Top Dallas Job". Education Week. 1999-05-05. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
  4. Chávez, Stella M. (2013-09-06). "Recent Dallas Schools Superintendents Haven't Stayed Long On The Job". KERA. Retrieved 2019-10-22. - Has detailed dates of superintendents from Chad Wollery to Mike Miles, but does not include people who only served as interim superintendents.
  5. Brazil, Eric (2000-06-15). "Ex-S.F. school chief under fire in Dallas". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
  6. "Past Dallas schools chiefs leave mixed legacies". The Dallas Morning News. 2012-03-31. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
  7. Chadde, Sky (2014-06-06). "Ousted Fort Worth Superintendent's Parachute Is Really Golden Even by Dallas ISD Standards". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
  8. Williams, Patrick (2000-07-13). "Buzz". Dallas Observer. Retrieved 2019-10-23.


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