Because no charges were formally brought against the teacher, he was not named in the video released on May 9.
“When the student got to his class, apparently all these memories she had suppressed came out,“ American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Union Representative Johnny Mickles told an undercover journalist. ”And she went to the superintendent and basically spilled her guts and the superintendent terminated the teacher.”
But instead of being fired and investigated, the teacher received a hefty paycheck from the school district as part of a deal negotiated by the Michigan affiliate of the AFT. He also kept his teaching certificate, though he did not use it to work at another school.
“He was terminated but we negotiated a resignation for him… he didn’t lose his [teaching] certification,” Mickles said. “He got to be on leave until they drew up the settlement and then he got, like, the rest of the school year’s payout… He got about six weeks of pay I think… and then he got a $50,000 payout.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQJpIvbLrd0
Another undercover journalist tracked down the former teacher, who confirmed the events but denied having molested the child.
“I mean the [union] attorney told me, ‘hey, in situations where somebody accuses you of something, you might as well- you know what? Chances are they’ll find a way to make it convenient for you to leave.’ That’s what he said.”
Project Veritas has so far released three videos from a series on teachers’ unions around the country. The first two videos on a New Jersey teachers union have already led to the suspensions of Dr. David Perry, President of the Hamilton Township Education Association and Kathleen Valencia, President of the Union City Education Association.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy called for hearings to investigate the union’s practices.