‘Iowa Senator Charles Grassley revealed the [Des Moines school] district never used the federal government’s E-Verify system to confirm [Ian] Roberts’ work eligibility and that the district is not even enrolled to use the system.’

Doofuses.

Iowa public schools to Ian Roberts:

Sing it!

So what the heck, you’re welcome
Glad to have you with us
Even though you’re the biggest criminal in state history
You really ought to lead Iowa’s public schools!

Lots of public school officials have bogus (completely made up or bought from diploma mills) doctorates, but Ian Roberts goes way beyond that.

The good folks of Des Moines saw no reason not to hire Ian Roberts as their school superintendent, even though they did no due diligence on his, er, spotty background. Weapons arrests, in the country illegally, lied bigtime about his university degrees.

The lying thing is de rigueur among many school principals (you get a salary bump with a doctorate, and schools don’t seem to mind if, like Roberts, you buy it from an online vendor), but the rest of it makes for an unusually rich brew.

********************

Charged.

Story jumps to the NYT.

**********************

The schools are suing the recruitment firm that fucked them up.

The Grift that Keeps on Giving

‘Their collaboration has continued with [Ian] Roberts behind bars. [Roberts’ collaborator] said on Sep. 29 she was told by Roberts’ wife to move forward with publishing a book called “Unshakeable,” a compilation of Roberts’ inspirational messages to Des Moines schools.

Iowa’s finest, Ian Roberts, committed more than the so far – what? – five thousand? crimes he committed as Des Moines public schools superintendent. He also awarded Des Moines school district contracts to his own side business, which specialized in soaking DEI budgets.

The district did catch one of his early attempts to pocket money in this way; but apparently they failed to catch later, successful, ones.

How stupid is Iowa? MUCH stupider than I ever imagined.

*******************

There’s a DEI sickness at the heart of Iowa’s public schools. It’s why they hired and retained a consummate con man.

Franchement, they got what they deserved. New leadership needed. Desperately.

UD REVIEWED

Dr. Bernard Carroll, known as the "conscience of psychiatry," contributed to various blogs, including Margaret Soltan's University Diaries, for which he sometimes wrote limericks under the name Adam.
New York Times

George Washington University English professor Margaret Soltan writes a blog called University Diaries, in which she decries the Twilight Zone-ish state our holy land’s institutes of higher ed find themselves in these days.
The Electron Pencil

It’s [UD's] intellectual honesty that makes her blog required reading.
Professor Mondo

There's always something delightful and thought intriguing to be found at Margaret Soltan's no-holds-barred, firebrand tinged blog about university life.
AcademicPub

You can get your RDA of academic liars, cheats, and greedy frauds at University Diaries. All disciplines, plus athletics.
truffula, commenting at Historiann

Margaret Soltan at University Diaries blogs superbly and tirelessly about [university sports] corruption.
Dagblog

University Diaries. Hosted by Margaret Soltan, professor of English at George Washington University. Boy is she pissed — mostly about athletics and funding, the usual scandals — but also about distance learning and diploma mills. She likes poems too. And she sings.
Dissent: The Blog

[UD belittles] Mrs. Palin's degree in communications from the University of Idaho...
The Wall Street Journal

Professor Margaret Soltan, blogging at University Diaries... provide[s] an important voice that challenges the status quo.
Lee Skallerup Bessette, Inside Higher Education

[University Diaries offers] the kind of attention to detail in the use of language that makes reading worthwhile.
Sean Dorrance Kelly, Harvard University

Margaret Soltan's ire is a national treasure.
Roland Greene, Stanford University

The irrepressibly to-the-point Margaret Soltan...
Carlat Psychiatry Blog

Margaret Soltan, whose blog lords it over the rest of ours like a benevolent tyrant...
Perplexed with Narrow Passages

Margaret Soltan is no fan of college sports and her diatribes on the subject can be condescending and annoying. But she makes a good point here...
Outside the Beltway

From Margaret Soltan's excellent coverage of the Bernard Madoff scandal comes this tip...
Money Law

University Diaries offers a long-running, focused, and extremely effective critique of the university as we know it.
Anthony Grafton, American Historical Association

The inimitable Margaret Soltan is, as usual, worth reading. ...
Medical Humanities Blog

I awake this morning to find that the excellent Margaret Soltan has linked here and thereby singlehandedly given [this blog] its heaviest traffic...
Ducks and Drakes

As Margaret Soltan, one of the best academic bloggers, points out, pressure is mounting ...
The Bitch Girls

Many of us bloggers worry that we don’t post enough to keep people’s interest: Margaret Soltan posts every day, and I more or less thought she was the gold standard.
Tenured Radical

University Diaries by Margaret Soltan is one of the best windows onto US university life that I know.
Mary Beard, A Don's Life

[University Diaries offers] a broad sense of what's going on in education today, framed by a passionate and knowledgeable reporter.
More magazine, Canada

If deity were an elected office, I would quit my job to get her on the ballot.
Notes of a Neophyte

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