Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Should the president of Seattle’s teachers union keep her position?
That’s the question on the minds of many local teachers and parents.
Last week, parents of a student of Ibijoke Idowu began the process of pursuing a civil lawsuit against the teacher and the district, claiming she had physically harmed their child.
This follows a Seattle Public Schools investigation, released in June, which concluded that Idowu “more likely than not” grabbed the student hard enough to cause bruising.
Idowu was elected to lead the Seattle Education Association while she was on leave pending the results of this probe.
Idowu has denied allegations of misconduct.
Guest:
• KUOW education reporter Noel Gasca
Related stories:
• Demands for Seattle teacher’s union president to resign intensify amid student abuse allegations - KUOW (kuow.org/education/2026-07-31/demands-for-seattle-teachers-union-president-to-resign-intensify-amid-student-abuse-allegations)
• Seattle teacher, union president, responds to report she ‘likely’ harmed student - Seattle Times (seattletimes.com/education-lab/seattle-teacher-union-president-responds-to-report-she-likely-harmed-student/)
• Petition to initiate RECALL of SEA President Ibijoke Idowu-Holiday - change.org (change.org/p/petition-to-initiate-recall-of-sea-president-ibijoke-idowu-holiday?recruited_by_id=262b93e0-853f-11f1-acb0-3f5c05d54899&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_term=starter_onboarding_share_social&utm_medium=copylink&share_id=pNQWRNpbC8)
• Petition support Idowu: Protect Devoted Educator from targeted harassment, intimidation & cultural bias! - change.org (change.org/p/protect-devoted-educator-from-targeted-harassment-intimidation-cultural-bias?ref=thebulletinsea.org)
Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to donate.kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes (donate.kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes)
Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.
See omnystudio.com/listener (omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
Should the president of Seattle’s teachers union keep her position?
That’s the question on the minds of many local teachers and parents.
Last week, parents of a student of Ibijoke Idowu began the process of pursuing a civil lawsuit against the teacher and the district, claiming she had physically harmed their child.
This follows a Seattle Public Schools investigation, released in June, which concluded that Idowu “more likely than not” grabbed the student hard enough to cause bruising.
Idowu was elected to lead the Seattle Education Association while she was on leave pending the results of this probe.
Idowu has denied allegations of misconduct.
Guest:
• KUOW education reporter Noel Gasca
Related stories:
• Demands for Seattle teacher’s union president to resign intensify amid student abuse allegations - KUOW (kuow.org/education/2026-07-31/demands-for-seattle-teachers-union-president-to-resign-intensify-amid-student-abuse-allegations)
• Seattle teacher, union president, responds to report she ‘likely’ harmed student - Seattle Times (seattletimes.com/education-lab/seattle-teacher-union-president-responds-to-report-she-likely-harmed-student/)
• Petition to initiate RECALL of SEA President Ibijoke Idowu-Holiday - change.org (change.org/p/petition-to-initiate-recall-of-sea-president-ibijoke-idowu-holiday?recruited_by_id=262b93e0-853f-11f1-acb0-3f5c05d54899&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_term=starter_onboarding_share_social&utm_medium=copylink&share_id=pNQWRNpbC8)
• Petition support Idowu: Protect Devoted Educator from targeted harassment, intimidation & cultural bias! - change.org (change.org/p/protect-devoted-educator-from-targeted-harassment-intimidation-cultural-bias?ref=thebulletinsea.org)
Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to donate.kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes (donate.kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes)
Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.
See omnystudio.com/listener (omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
