If this doesn't show you that the leftwing DEI push was little more than a scam, nothing will.
The criminal illegal alien who was a superintendent in Iowa's largest school district allegedly had himself a nice little scheme going on.
This is from the Associated Press, not exactly a rightwing propaganda outlet, and what they've discovered about Ian Roberts is that he appears to have used his position as superintendent, or as a high-ranking education official, to push his own DEI consulting firm.
Three months into his tenure leading Des Moines public schools, Ian Roberts asked the district's board for emergency approval of $116,000 in contracts.
The agreements to provide training on 'culturally responsive coaching,' the superintendent said, had to be approved within days. But the district's procurement manager discovered one contract was earmarked for a company that marketed Roberts as a consultant and speaker, sold his books and helped raise his profile, an Associated Press investigation found.
The school board in this case caught the obvious conflict of interest, but almost immediately after being hired, Ian Roberts tried to push through an "emergency" contract to a DEI consulting firm that just so happened to feature Roberts himself as a speaker and sell his books.
Roberts personally approved just over $6,000, however, for a training from the group he works for, Lively Paradox.
So, in addition to his $300k in salary and benefits, AP is reporting that Roberts attempted to funnel thousands more tax dollars to another one of his personal money-making schemes.
But other districts either didn't catch the scheme, or they wittingly went along with it.
The AP found that as Roberts' profile in education rose, his connection with Lively Paradox and its founder Nicole Price became rewarding during a period when many organizations championed diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Blurring the line between his public and private jobs, the investigation found tens of thousands of dollars in contracts were awarded to Price from school districts where Roberts held leadership posts.
So according to the AP, Roberts was illegally in the country for decades, he worked illegally for decades, with faked credentials, and he used that work to funnel tax dollars from various states and school districts to a group from which he financially benefitted.
That's quite the hustle!
And he was able to push this scam because the schools he worked with were desperate to boost their DEI credentials!
As Roberts changed jobs, Price and Lively Paradox followed behind getting new clients, the AP found.
Price's clients have included a range of corporations and government agencies, her curriculum vitae shows. Her school district clients were almost exclusively in Kansas and Missouri, and then in districts outside those states where Roberts held leadership roles ...
Did Roberts move from district to district making big bucks, and then allegedly push schools and government agencies to hire this firm?
Almost as if the push for DEI trainings was only motivated by greed or something.
After Roberts became an administrator at Aspire Public Schools in Oakland, that public charter school system paid Price at least $8,300 for services, according to a disbursement report covering part of 2019.
Price provided leadership training to the Millcreek Township School District in Pennsylvania in 2020 and 2021, while Roberts was superintendent, according to her curriculum vitae.
I for one am shocked - shocked, I tell you - to learn that a criminal illegal alien who was charged with a gun crime, allegedly lied on his resumé, allegedly lied on his employment form, and ignored deportation orders for a year might also be a straight-up con man.
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