Des Moines School Board hired former superintendent even after false claim of doctorate degree on his resume

DES MOINES — The former superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district falsely claimed a doctoral degree when applying for the position two years ago, but the school board hired him even after they learned about the misrepresentation.

Ian Roberts, who was detained by immigration authorities last Friday after they said he was living and working in the United States illegally, resigned earlier this week as the superintendent of the Des Moines Public Schools. Roberts had claimed in his application that he received a doctorate in urban educational leadership from Morgan State University in 2007.

On Wednesday evening, the school district’s school board released a statement saying that Roberts provided a resume to a consulting company in which he indicated he had earned the doctorate degree from Morgan State, but that the search firm later flagged that he hadn’t completed his dissertation.

Board chair Jackie Norris says in the statement released last night that the “Des Moines School Board is also a victim of deception by 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.”