Seattle Education Association elects teacher under investigation for child abuse as next president

A Seattle Public Schools teacher under investigation over allegations she physically abused a student is likely to become the next president of the Seattle Education Association, a union for educators and staffers.

Preliminary election results show Ibijoke Idowu, a special education teacher at Rising Star Elementary School in South Beacon Hill, ahead in the contest to lead the union. The union represents roughly 6,000 Seattle Public Schools employees, including teachers, paraprofessionals, counselors, secretaries, and other staff.

A union spokesperson told The Seattle Times that the union’s board certified the election results Friday night. Popper said any member in good standing is eligible to run and vote. Members remain in good standing if they are actively employed by the district and paying union dues.

Idowu has worked for Seattle Public Schools since 2021. Idowu was placed on paid administrative leave in December after the district notified Seattle police in accordance with protocols requiring reports of suspected child abuse or neglect.

In a complaint filed with the district, the parents of a third-grade student at Rising Star who has autism, a speech delay, and is partially verbal, said they noticed bruises in the shape of adult fingers on their son’s arm in October and again in December. Using visual aids, they asked their son whether an adult caused the bruises, and he identified Idowu.

The parents also alleged that in December, their son’s therapist saw Idowu throw a marker at the child’s head, which allegedly struck his face and glasses, while he was working at a whiteboard. Tyson Marsh, the student’s father, told the outlet that his son has struggled emotionally since the alleged incidents and has not wanted to go back to school. “Any movement toward him is received as if you were going to attack him.”

A police report obtained by the outlet describes similar allegations from Marsh, including claims that the teacher grabbed multiple students by the arm and that students complained it hurt. The police referred the case to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office as a statutory referral.