Ian Roberts destroyed more than his career

By now, many who initially defended Ian Roberts have since learned more of the details about the disgraced (former) superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools and have reevaluated their support.

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In a shock that reverberated nationwide, Roberts was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Sept. 26. The Guyanese native and superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district was, it turns out, living in the U.S. illegally.

Wow.

Nevertheless, a few are still championing Roberts’ cause.

Students walk out in support of Roberts

On Wednesday, by which time even more troubling details of Roberts’ history were made public, hundreds of students from five Des Moines high schools staged walkouts in support “Dr.” Roberts (whose honorific has since come into doubt.) Some of those students were wearing T-shirts from popular apparel company Raygun adorned with references to Roberts’ detainment.

I’m all for speaking up for one’s beliefs, but I don’t think it would have hurt for someone to make sure those kids fully understood who — and what — they were defending.

And I’m all for capitalism, but knowing what we know now, it might not be a bad idea for Raygun managers to take the shirts that say “FREE DR. ROBERTS” and “ICE ABDUCTED OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL’S SUPERINTENDENT” out of their inventory. Or at least off their website.

The notion that Roberts was “abducted” by ICE is false, of course. Roberts was lawfully detained that fateful Friday morning after he initially fled from uniformed agents. Items later found in his abandoned vehicle include a loaded handgun, which is illegal for a person not lawfully present to possess.

List of concerning details grows

Since his detainment, journalists, investigators and other researchers have pieced together details from Roberts’ time in the U.S., revealing everything from inconsistencies to blatant falsehoods to actions that may constitute other federal crimes.

He had claimed on his LinkedIn to have attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an MBA candidate. MIT said they had no record of his enrollment.

He claimed he was awarded “Principal of the Year” by George Washington University in Washington, D.C. GWU said the award doesn’t exist.

He gave the consulting company used by Des Moines Public Schools a resume on which he claimed to have a doctorate from Morgan State University — a falsity revealed, interestingly, during the hiring process. Knowing that, DMPS still hired him. More on that obviously bad decision in a moment.

He claimed to be a U.S. citizen on employment forms submitted to DMPS and at least one other district that previously employed him. Obviously, that wasn’t true.

He was registered to vote in Maryland, which means he attested at some point to being a citizen. Doing so falsely is a federal crime.

Only months into his tenure as DMPS superintendent, Roberts was served a restraining order by Polk County law enforcement. The sealed order originated in the Kansas City, Missouri area.

He filed for permanent resident status on three occasions over 17 years and was denied. He married a U.S. citizen applied to adjust his status and was again denied for failing to provide additional information requested of him.

He was ordered removed from the U.S. by an immigration judge after failing to appear for his 2024 hearing. He appealed, claiming he never received the notice. His attorney filed to withdraw from his case in January 2025, citing a large unpaid bill. The paperwork Roberts claimed he never received was found underneath a floormat in a car in his garage during a Sept. 26 search.

Then, on Friday afternoon, the Department of Homeland Security released more information about Roberts’ criminal history dating back to the mid-1990s, which included criminal drug possession with intent to sell and possession of a forged instrument.

God only knows what we have to yet to find out.

But we do have enough information already to know that Ian Roberts is … well, a fraud. He conned people in multiple states out of their trust and admiration in true “Catch Me If You Can” style. And like Frank Abagnale, the subject of Steven Spielberg’s 2002 movie, he got away with it — for a while, at least.

It defies credulity that anyone would believe that Roberts deserves amnesty, let alone to continue as Des Moines’ superintendent.

Roberts’ actions betray his own supporters

Much of the advocacy on Roberts’ behalf hails from the political left, which in 2025 seems centered exclusively around resisting President Donald Trump and Republicans. Some are so pathologically hostile to any right-of-center idea about immigration or education that their ability to consider common sense takes a backseat to ideology.

Yet it’s the very ideals of his few remaining defenders of which Roberts has made a mockery. Roberts has betrayed so many people by proving them so very wrong about so many things.

In a previous column I described what I call silver platter moments — when a politician (or a public figure in general) gifts their opposition with political material so valuable it might as well be handed to them on a silver platter.

Roberts’ having proved many of the arguments of the political right is a gift that might as well have been given in a diamond-encrusted box atop a silk pillow.

Immigration enforcement

Obviously, Roberts illustrates why we enforce immigration laws in the first place. If we don’t, bad people will enter the country and commit bad acts that hurt people on American soil.

Just so we’re clear, deceiving hundreds of thousands of people who were counting on you over the course of many years is a bad act. Defrauding public schools out of money and a position you would not have otherwise earned is a bad act. And falsely claiming to be a citizen is a bad act.

Who knows how much of it could have been prevented if Roberts’ background had been properly scrutinized earlier?

Public ‘transparency’ and ‘accountability’

Roberts also annihilates a popular argument against Education Savings Accounts, which are used by 18 states including Iowa and allow any K-12 student to use their per-pupil allotment of state education dollars at a private school that best suits their learning needs.

Opponents of school choice say education dollars should only be spent on public schools because only public school districts are properly transparent and accountable.

What did transparency and accountability look like to residents of the largest school district in the state? The search process used to hire Roberts was conducted behind closed doors, with the district spending $41,000 on a private consulting firm it now says was negligent.

Voters have only one opportunity very four years to replace any given school board member. Of the four DMPS board members who voted to hire Roberts (knowing full well he had misrepresented his credentials,) only one, Maria Alonzo, faces a re-election challenge next month. Alonzo is one of three people running for two at-large seats.

Board member Kim Martorano gets another two years to let this cool before she is up for reelection. Jenna Knox and Jackie Norris already planned to not seek re-election. Norris, the board chair, is running for U.S. Senate as a Democrat.

On Monday, Norris posted a video on social media in which she asked for campaign donations, stating the Roberts situation had prevented her from focusing on her campaign before the close of the fundraising quarter. I’ve seen some poorly advised campaign ads in my time, but … oof.

As a footnote to the matter of transparency, it’s worth mentioning that Dr. Tawana Grover, the superintendent of Iowa’s second-largest school district in Cedar Rapids, was also selected via a similar closed-door process in 2023.

Fresh scrutiny for DEI

The Department of Justice informed DMPS last week that it has opened an investigation into whether DEI-focused district hiring practices violate federal law by discriminating on the basis of race, color or national origin. DMPS policy says that, "[t]he Superintendent shall not allow the composition of the teaching and learning staff to diverge regarding demographics and cultural responsivity, from the student population …” of the minority-majority district. The district’s 2021 affirmative action plan calls “to increase the number of teachers of color” in elementary schools by specific percentages.

Though the DOJ’s Sept. 30 letter did not mention Roberts or his Sept. 26 arrest, its timing hardly seems a coincidence.

The DMPS board admitted last week that they were aware prior to hiring him that Roberts, a Black man, had falsely inflated his credentials. Notwithstanding that major red flag the board evidently chose to ignore, it could also mean Roberts was not the most qualified candidate.

Given that and the district’s stated emphasis on staff “demographics,” it’s not hard to conclude that Roberts’ selection was what is pejoratively called a “DEI hire,” the hiring of a person believed to have been chosen over more qualified candidates because of their race.

It doesn’t matter whether that was actually the case — the court of public opinion will decide. But it perfectly explains opposition to DEI policies.

Schools have always wanted superintendents to whom their students feel they can relate. But not at the expense of letting in a bad actor because people feel gaslighted into turning a blind eye when something concerning pops up.

In lieu of his imminent termination, Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Ian Roberts resigned Monday, citing “concern for his 30,000 students” from whose education he “does not want to distract.“

How thoughtful of him to spare them the anguish.

Comments: 319-398-8266; althea.cole@thegazette.com

Note: This column has been updated to include additional information on Roberts’ criminal history released by DHS.