Teacher who talked of killer robots resigned

SAN DIEGO  — A San Diego County teacher resigned after being investigated for talking in class about programming robots to shoot and kill students.

U-T San Diego reported Tuesday that Tuyet-Mai Thi Vo was allowed to resign last year and receive a $92,000 settlement instead of being fired.

Oceanside Unified School District officials investigated complaints that Vo said in 2012 that if robots were teachers, she would program them to shoot students when they misbehaved. The district report says the 48-year-old told her class she would program robots to kill all of the students.

The teacher maintains the allegations are untrue, and she has a positive recommendation letter from then-Superintendent Larry Perondi to vouch for her ongoing fitness for the classroom.

Officials say the prospect of a lengthy and costly state process to terminate the teacher contributed to the settlement.