A special education instructor placed on paid leave for allegedly abusing an autistic third-grader was elected president of the Seattle teachers’ union on Friday.
Ibijoke Idowu-Holiday, a former Black Lives Matter organizer and special education teacher at Rising Star Elementary, won the election to lead the union representing 6,000 staffers in the Seattle Public Schools system.
The educator rose to the top in spite of the disturbing accusations against her.
Idowu-Holiday was accused of repeatedly abusing a disabled boy over the last school year by the student’s family, including one instance that was witnessed by his therapist.
The child, who has autism, a speech delay and is partially nonverbal, came home with bruises the size of adult fingertips on his arms in October, then again in December, according to a complaint obtained by the Seattle Times.
The third-grader’s therapist also saw Idowu-Holiday chuck a marker at the boy’s head while he was working at the classroom whiteboard in December, the complaint alleged.
The boy’s parents presented their son with visual aids, which he used to identify Idowu-Holiday as the perpetrator, the complaint said.
A police report obtained by the local outlet supplemented the family’s accusations and divulged extra details about the special ed teacher allegedly grabbing several students by the arm to the point where they complained about it hurting them.
Idowu-Holiday was placed on paid leave over the allegations in December, Bev Redmond, the Seattle Education Association’s chief of staff and public affairs, confirmed to the local outlet. The district also reported the allegations to the Seattle Police Department.
The board certified the allegedly abusive teacher’s election win on Friday night, a SEA spokesperson told the Times.
Any school community member who is actively employed by the district and paying union dues can run for president of the organization, according to the Association.
Meanwhile, the new union president’s alleged victim is still suffering, according to his parents.
Even with Idowu-Holiday out of the classroom, the child has lasting trauma that has caused frequent emotional distress and even resistance to schooling, the victim’s father, Tyson Marsh, told the outlet.
“Any movement toward him is received as if you were going to attack him,” Marsh said.
Idowu-Holiday has been teaching at Seattle Public Schools since 2021. The year before, she could be found spearheading Black Lives Matter protests — and boycotting local businesses that didn’t stand with the movement.
“People will shape up when their money is affected,” she told KUOW.
During a podcast appearance in the final stretch of the union race last week, Idowu-Holiday said she wants to be remembered as “that person that didn’t back down.”
“I am not afraid to be a line stepper when it’s necessary and when it protects others,” she said.
“You can’t be afraid, and the thing is, sometimes you even have to be the bad guy. You have to ruffle feathers. But that is apart of, like, leadership, and sometimes you have to advocate for this group, and it bothers this group. But you know what? That’s for this group to deal with. And you figure out why the advocacy for this group is bothering you, because that’s something you have to deal with. That’s not for me to deal with,” she added.
The Seattle Public Schools is still investigating the allegations against Idowu-Holiday.