Educator suspended for abusing autistic student, elected Seattle teachers’ union president

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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.

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