OPINION:
Ian Roberts, whose deportation order was issued in May 2024, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents last week after fleeing in his car and then on foot with a loaded handgun, a fixed-blade hunting knife and $3,000 in cash. He had existing weapon possession charges.
Mr. Roberts was the superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools, the largest school system in Iowa.
The Des Moines School Board unanimously approved his appointment in 2023, with a base annual salary starting at $270,000. The school board president is Jackie Norris, who served as chief of staff to first lady Michelle Obama. The Des Moines Register reported that Mr. Roberts was selected “behind closed doors” to allow the board to “attract the best and brightest to the opportunity.”
Apparently, checking his immigration status was not important. Mr. Roberts had no work authorization.
However, his focus on equity programs and cultural responsiveness — at a time when “Iowa schools are navigating new laws restricting curriculum, books and the rights of LGBTQ students” — was. Equally emphasized was Mr. Roberts’ being the “first person of color” to lead the district. He was also an Olympian, having competed in track and field for Guyana, where he is likely to be deported.
“Roberts will face a number of challenges as he steps into his new role, including students’ continued academic recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in students facing housing instability, the implementation of several Iowa laws that impact LGBTQ students and staff, and a possible large-scale review of books at the district’s 64 schools,” the Des Moines Register wrote at the time of his announcement.
The newspaper went on to detail the horrors that Iowa educators were dealing with, including having to notify parents if their child identifies as transgender in the classroom and the prohibition against “the teaching of gender identity and sexual orientation to students through sixth grade.”
Mr. Roberts also had to contend with eliminating books in school libraries that featured sex acts, and with upholding the state law of prohibiting students from entering locker rooms or bathrooms that aren’t aligned with their sex at birth.
“Public school officials across the state also face students leaving public school for private school following the passage of Gov. Kim Reynolds’ Students First Act. The act allows families to apply for taxpayer funds — which would have gone to public schools — to send their child to an accredited private school,” the Des Moines Register wrote of Mr. Roberts’ challenges.
Nothing about teaching our children how to read, write or do mathematics.
After his arrest, the Des Moines School Board placed Mr. Roberts on paid administrative leave. Ms. Norris called for people to have “radical empathy” for Mr. Roberts as his case plays out.
“There is much we do not know,” Ms. Norris said. “However, what we do know is that Dr. Roberts has been an integral part of our school community since he joined over two years ago.”
Ms. Norris is running for Iowa’s Senate as a Democrat. The board has not issued any further public statements, though press accounts have it blaming the outside consulting group it leaned on during the hiring process for the oversight. Meanwhile, Republicans in the Iowa legislature are calling for a broader investigation to ensure proper hiring practices are followed across the state, according to Fox News.
In other troubling public school news, ICE also arrested this month a convicted sex offender, Wilson Tindi, in Minnesota. Mr. Tindi, a Kenyan national, landed multiple taxpayer-funded positions in Minnesota state agencies, including the Minnesota Department of Education.
Over the weekend, the Chicago Teachers Union put out an X post honoring Assata Shakur, one of the FBI’s “Most Wanted Terrorists” who killed a New Jersey State trooper in cold blood in 1973 and then fled to Cuba to escape accountability. The Chicago Teachers Union classified the convicted killer, who died last week, as a “revolutionary fighter, a fierce writer, a revered elder of Black liberation, and a leader of freedom whose spirit continues to live in our struggle.”
Meanwhile, Randi Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers, doubled down on her support for socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani even as emails emerged in which one of her top aides questioned his governing experience. Ms. Weingarten said she was “a fan” of Mr. Mamdani, who opposes the expansion of charter schools and wants to audit existing ones.
Ms. Weingarten is out promoting her new book, “Why Fascists Fear Teachers,” and her latest X post, as of this writing, described the city of Portland, Oregon, as “thriving and peaceful.” She questioned why President Trump authorized the National Guard to be deployed there to protect U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities from antifa rioters.
Woke liberals have entrenched themselves in our public education systems. Even if you are living in a conservative state, you must beware. Change won’t come to our country until they are all rooted out, exposed and replaced with educators and administrators who place our children’s education above their personal politics.
We still have a long way to go.
• Kelly Sadler is the commentary editor at The Washington Times.
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