DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The superintendent of Iowa's largest school district, who was detained last week by immigration agents, falsely claimed a doctoral degree when applying for the job two years ago but was hired even after the school board learned about the misrepresentation.
Ian Roberts, who immigration authorities say was living and working in the U.S. illegally and who resigned this week as Des Moines' superintendent of schools, claimed in his 2023 application that he received a doctorate in urban educational leadership from Morgan State University in 2007, according to documents The Associated Press obtained through a public records request.
Although Roberts was enrolled in that doctorate program from 2002 to 2007, the school’s public relations office confirmed in an email that he didn't receive that degree. It declined to say which degree requirements he hadn't met.
The Des Moines school board learned before hiring Roberts that he hadn't received the degree, but it still chose him to lead the district, which serves about 30,000 students.
“As part of the background check process that was done at the time, it indicated that he did not complete -- he began but did not complete a degree from Morgan State,” district spokesman Phil Roeder told the AP.
The background check was conducted by a third party and is not a public record, Roeder said.
On Wednesday evening the board released a statement saying Roberts provided a resume to a consulting company in which he...
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