‘Is this union acting in the best interest of students?’: Jake raises alarm over Seattle teachers union president’s alleged abuse

As Seattle teachers voted to authorize a strike if necessary, KIRO host Jake Skorheim said he can’t stop thinking about the person leading the negotiations.

Seattle Education Association President Ibijoke “Ibi” Idowu, a special education teacher at Rising Star Elementary, was elected to lead the union while on administrative leave amid an investigation into allegations that she physically harmed a student with autism, according to KUOW.

A Seattle Public Schools investigation concluded in June that Idowu “more likely than not” grabbed one of her students, a third grader with autism, hard enough to cause bruising, KUOW reported. The parents of the student have since filed a tort claim against Idowu and the district in King County Superior Court, alleging they discovered multiple new bruises on their son’s body on Dec. 9, 2025.

“That December evening, the boy, who is partially verbal, told his parents, ‘Miss Ibi hurt me,’ according to the tort claim,” Jake said on “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio, reading from the KUOW report. “The parents also noticed some finger marks on the boy’s arm around the same time. According to the district’s investigative report, the marks seemed too large to be from classmates.”

Jake said a behavioral assistant also reported seeing Idowu throw a marker at the child, hitting him in the face.

Idowu was placed on administrative leave on Dec. 11, 2025, according to KUOW. She was elected union president on May 8, while still on leave, and her interview for the investigation took place four days later.

Jake says the allegations are hard to ignore at the bargaining table

Jake said he doesn’t believe the union president’s situation invalidates the teachers’ contract demands, but it creates an uncomfortable backdrop to the negotiations.

“Is this union acting in the best interest of the students if they put somebody like this in charge, knowing what she was being investigated for?” Jake said. “And then the school district, which had to do an independent investigation, determined that she likely caused these things. I mean, those things all in my head, they do play into the whole conversation.”

Spike O’Neill agreed the situation is hard to overlook.

“I’m more distracted that the union itself would let someone like this, who did have knowledge, somebody had knowledge of what was going on,” Spike said.

Jake noted that some union members who voted for Idowu later started a petition claiming they didn’t know about the investigation when they cast their ballots.

“Some claimed that they didn’t know,” Jake said.

Jake and Spike split on whether teachers will actually strike

With the school year set to begin Sept. 2, the two hosts offered different predictions.

“I think they strike,” Spike said. “I don’t think they back away from their demands, and I don’t think the school district, Seattle Public Schools, I don’t think they offer them what they want until they force them to. And that’s why you strike.”

Jake said he has a feeling it won’t come to that.

“I just feel like it’s not going to end up being a strike,” Jake said. “I’m almost 50-50 on it.”

Spike noted that neither side has revealed where negotiations stand on key issues like class sizes, support staff, or salary demands.

“They won’t tell us if there’s any progress made in the last 24 hours,” Spike said. “They won’t tell us where they’re at on these demands. And that’s pretty commonplace in any negotiation.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3