The Strange Case of the Iowa Superintendent
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He was the superintendent of the largest school district in Iowa. Arrested by ICE. Now it turns out that most of his background may have been made up.
Somebodies certainly did not do the job in backgrounding him before hiring.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Roberts, a native of Guyana, on Sept. 26. In quick succession, the School Board placed him on leave, Iowa removed his administrator's license, and he resigned from his post. The School Board accepted his resignation late Tuesday, Sept. 30. Federal officials have said he had a previously unreported final order of removal an immigration judge issued May 29, 2024.
Des Moines Public Schools and Iowa Department of Education officials have both said Roberts identified himself as an American citizen on school documentation and background checks in 2023.
Since his arrest, the Des Moines Register has reported he did not have a doctorate from Morgan State University, as he frequently claimed, and schools also disputed some of the other academic credentials and honors he has said he earned.
Although Roberts repeatedly said he had the Morgan State doctorate, DMPS knew he did not when it hired him, a schools spokesperson and board president Jackie Norris said.
"I want to be clear. In a world of misinformation and disinformation, speculation becomes narrative and blame is rampant. The Des Moines School Board is also a victim of deception by Dr. Roberts, one on a growing list that includes our students and teachers, our parents and community, our elected officials and Iowa's Board of Educational Examiners, and others," Norris said in the Wednesday evening statement.
@taiwan_girl said in The Strange Case of the Iowa Superintendent:
"I want to be clear. In a world of misinformation and disinformation, speculation becomes narrative and blame is rampant. The Des Moines School Board is also a victim of deception by Dr. Roberts, one on a growing list that includes our students and teachers, our parents and community, our elected officials and Iowa's Board of Educational Examiners, and others," Norris said in the Wednesday evening statement.
In a world where verification should be far easier than ever before, the Des Moines School Board are idiots.
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For sure, the board is ultimately responsible. But, probably the board just hires someone to verify and dont do the actual checking themselves.
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I recently reiterated the commonly understood point that progressive white women are the shady figures behind the scenes who choose the figureheads who look the right way and who parrot the right politics.
This is only an anecdote of course, but this is a mic-drop for that point.
And more than you probably want to know about the situation:
Link to video
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Thanks God for President Biden. If it wasn't for him, the good doctor would still have his job.
(As an aside, wonder what he is thinking now. I am sure he has built quite a life in Iowa. The next time he will see the outside of a jail cell, it will be in Guyana. How does he wrap up his life here?)
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Another fun breakdown. Colleagues thought he was an obvious DEI hire, a pathological liar, he did almost no work, seemed "preoccupied with women". I wonder if he got along well with the school board president who hired him.
Link to video -
Another fun breakdown. Colleagues thought he was an obvious DEI hire, a pathological liar, he did almost no work, seemed "preoccupied with women". I wonder if he got along well with the school board president who hired him.
Link to video -
@Horace said in The Strange Case of the Iowa Superintendent:
seemed "preoccupied with women".
That’s funny. I never saw him at the meetings.
@jon-nyc said in The Strange Case of the Iowa Superintendent:
@Horace said in The Strange Case of the Iowa Superintendent:
seemed "preoccupied with women".
That’s funny. I never saw him at the meetings.
There can be no doubt that his politics were prerequisite for both his vocation, and for that particular avocation.
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https://apnews.com/article/iowa-superintendent-conflict-audit-fb0c9065a825b51bd429c59c81d83e6b
Iowa’s largest school district said Tuesday that it revised its conflict-of-interest policy after an audit found its former superintendent awarded district business to a consulting firm he worked for, affirming findings first reported by The Associated Press in the weeks after federal immigration officers detained him.
Ian Roberts, a native of Guyana in South America, worked for two decades as an educator and administrator in urban districts across the U.S. His Sept. 26 arrest in Des Moines, Iowa, shocked the community and drew national attention to his history of criminal charges and falsified credentials. He pleaded guilty in federal court in January, admitting to falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen on a federal form and illegally possessing firearms.
Roberts’ sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 29. The two counts together carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
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