The Superintendent’s Bio Seemed Too Good to Be True. It Was.

The Superintendent’s Bio Seemed Too Good to Be True. It Was.

School district leaders in Des Moines drew up a detailed wish list when they set out to hire a new superintendent in 2023. They wanted someone who could increase reading scores, improve the math skills of Black boys, adhere to an affirmative action plan and much more. Most of all, Des Moines Public Schools needed a galvanizing leader who could meet a moment shaped by the aftermath of Covid and the racial justice movement of 2020. Ian Roberts’s a…