Florida Governor DeSantis attacked the running mate of his Democratic gubernatorial opponent Charlie Crist on Tuesday, accusing the teachers’ union leader of turning a blind eye to a Miami teacher who was sexually abusing students because he was a high-ranking member of the union.
“They cared more about the power of their union than they did about the best interest of these kids. That is disgraceful. You do not put union politics ahead of middle school students who are in danger of being sexually abused…that’s disqualifying to be in any political office, much less Lieutenant Governor of Florida,” DeSantis said at a press conference in Fort Pierce.
Before she was tapped to join Crist’s ticket, Karla Hernández Mats served as president of United Teachers’ of Dade (UTD). DeSantis alluded to the fact that during her tenure, she maintained a professional relationship with Wendall Gibbs, who in his 15 years of teaching was involved in four criminal sexual assault cases and was accused of sexual misconduct by nine female students at Brownsville Middle School, the Miami Herald reported in 2019.
Colleen Wright, the reporter who wrote the Herald article in January 2019, posted on Twitter a statement that a Hernández Mats’ spokeswoman sent her two months after the article was published, blaming the district for failing to take action against Gibbs as the sexual-assault allegations piled up. Hernández Mats offered no condemnation of her former colleague’s behavior, Wright claimed in a tweet.
“Karla is in meetings in DC and asked me to get back to you on this,” the spokeswoman wrote to Wright. “Hiring, firing, background checks and investigations are all handled and led by the district. If they are hired by M-DCPS, they are deemed to be qualified and safe to be in a school as far as UTD and other district employees are concerned.”
In 2020, Gibbs pled guilty to child sexual assault, including two counts of sexual activity with a child. He was sentenced to eight years in prison, followed by ten years of sex offender probation and a lifetime designation as a sexual predator. It is unclear whether Hernández Mats knew of Gibbs’ criminal activities while he was affiliated with UTD.
Gibbs, a then high-ranking member of UTD, was reportedly a strong supporter of Hernández-Mats. Over the years Nibbs and Hernandez-Mats took multiple photos and selfies together, including one from February 2016 in which they are posing under Brownsville Middle’s welcome sign, which reads “UTD we are keeping kids safe,” the Herald reported.
Last week, American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten praised Hernández-Mats on Twitter, saying that she supports teachers while DeSantis is caught up in “culture wars.” Both teachers’ union heavyweights fought to keep schools closed during the pandemic, despite evidence that students were suffering from crippling learning loss. Hernández-Mats is now the vice president of AFT.
“The contrast couldn’t be more clear. DeSantis wants to fight culture wars and politicize schools. While @KarlaForFlorida wants to make sure teachers have the support and resources to focus on #WhatKidsNeed,” Weingarten said.