Well, looks like Port St. Lucie kindergarten teacher Wendy Portillo won't be named Teacher of the Year. According to the Treasure Coast Palm, she handled a difficult child, five-year-old Alex Barton (pictured at right), in what she probably thought was a creative manner: She encouraged the other children in the class to tell him why they didn't like him (e.g.: he's "disgusting" and "annoying") and then to vote on whether or not he should stay in class (they voted to kick him out, 14-2). And so he was forced to leave!
Why in the world would a teacher hand over control to a classroom of five-year-olds? If she thought he needed to leave the room, why didn't she just take the authority upon herself to send him to the principal rather than handing the decision over to an army of PlayDoh-eaters?
Alex, who has Asperger's, a form of autism, spent the rest of the day in the nurse's office. At home he repeated to himself, "I'm not special" over and over, and he now screams when he gets near the school, so he's dropped out.
An abuse investigation is underway and Alex's mother is considering legal action. Even if he was a problem kid, there definitely had to be a better way for the teacher to handle this.
Reader Comments ( Page 2 of 16)
16. My daughter tutors children with autism. She was extremely upset by this teacher's actions. So it seems that this "teacher" just taught a whole classroom of tender minds how to shun and exclude another child out of their society. To me that is the beginning of an elitist group of adults. My heart bleeds for this child and his parents for being ostracised and condemned. Everyone should look into a mirrow and try to feel just the way this poor little guy felt. Shame on the teacher.
Joan Castaldo at 2:58PM on May 29th 2008
17. e-mail address correction for St. Lucie School district:
webmastr@stlucie.K12.us
Becky at 3:09PM on May 29th 2008
18. Even if you're a proponent of complete mainstreaming and letting the kid deal with a regular class, that voting BS is just that, BS.
You DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT allow your students to systematically humiliate one another. You definitely don't start the humiliation tactics being the adult.
One person said everyone should be criticized to be fair and another said constructive criticism should have been used. Let me tell you now, don't any of you ever become teachers. You want children to grow into strong, responsible people not degraded serial killers. You don't encourage kids to criticize each other. It happens on its own and the adult should be an adult and not encourage it!
They're too young to offer anything constructive so all it amounts to is nastiness and embarrassing another student. That's not how you handle a classroom.
I just can't believe some of the stupid comments on here. Allow kids to criticize each other and vote each other out of class? Simply unbelievable.
Amanda at 3:33PM on May 29th 2008
19. This is the e-mail add...webmastr@stlucie.k12.fl.us
You can be sure they received one from me asking for her removal. I hope anyone else who cares about this situation will do the same. Thanks. Again...
webmastr@stlucie.k12.fl.us
irr at 3:40PM on May 29th 2008
20. to Strados, What about the lynch mob that the teacher let loose on a 5 year old. Also you cannot expect adult behavior of any 5 year old. Abusive people are attracted to jobs where they can abuse. That teacher is one of these people.
It doesn't matter what the kid did. You don't ask other 5 year olds to pass judgement. They don't have the skills especially when being led by a mad woman.
Pbranham at 4:58PM on May 29th 2008
21. Goodness gracious! What kind of moron lets 5 year olds vote on who gets to stay in class or not? This lady needs to be fired and possibly charged with child abuse. When are people going to get the fact that everyone is not the same and there is no such thing as a level playing field? Special needs kids need more help and just like the old people in my neighborhood that don't want to raise mill leveys for education because their kids are grown, it's wrong and insensitive to shut out special needs kids because your kids are "normal". Get a clue people and stop soaking up the right wing mantra that everyone can be wealthy if they would just be more like us. Ten people run the 100 meters in the Olympics and only one person wins the gold. the other nine could have won but in truth only one does. We as a society have to factor in that some people are left behind for a myriad of reasons but if we just turn a cold shoulder to them all we have lost all compassion as a group!
Giants fan for one game at 4:57PM on May 29th 2008
22. This kind of thing makes me sick. My father is a teacher, with 27 years of experience, and I used to want to follow in his footsteps. I cannot imagine the kind of teacher who would do something like this to a mentally disabled student.
If the teacher had a problem with the student, she should have PRIVATELY voiced her concerns to the student's parents, and suggested that they enroll him in a class for special-needs children.
Some kids with Asperger's Syndrome can function normally in a classroom, but some cannot. It sounds like this child may have been wrongfully "mainstreamed" and should probably have been given some special education before attempting to integrate him with his non-Asperger's peers.
I was bullied absolutely mercilessly through elementary school, and it had long-lasting impact on my social development. I'm a (mostly) normal person, with some personality-based side-effects of being a "gifted" student. The other students did not understand this, and I was ostracised until 8th grade, when I began to realise that I needed to "conform" in order to make the bullying stop. This child may never realise that, at least not for a long time, due to the nature of his disability.
The teacher should, by all means, be fired immediately. If she is capable of doing this to one student, she has probably done it to others and will continue to do it unless there are consequences. She should probably find another career that doesn't involve dealing with sometimes unruly children.
Emmy at 5:13PM on May 29th 2008
23. I cannot for the life of me understand how an adult can act in this matter! She is the teacher and not a five year-old child! Even as an adult this would hurt one's feelings and self-esteem. Not only did this hurt this child but this taught the other children how to be cruel and not care for others feelings especially those who are not like them! This is totally unacceptable and we do not allow five year old children to decide who stays and who goes in a classroom setting! She needs to be stripped of her teaching certificate and not allowed to teach any longer! Maybe someone should teach her some manners, empathy, compassion and sympathy! I am glad that SHE is not my daughter-I would be so ASHAMED of her!!!
Pugwah4 at 5:32PM on May 29th 2008
24. Yeesh! As someone who has Asperger's myself, needless to say, I'm very disturbed by this. (Yes, we can be annoying as hell, but come on!) It's a mild form of autism, and most kids with it can probably be mainstreamed, but it sounds like this little boy should perhaps have been in a special class. I think maybe we're a bit too quick to mainstream these days. At any rate, what this teacher did was inexcusable. I actually plan to be a teacher; with autism as rampant as it is these days, they need people like me who are bound to be understanding. Again...yeesh.
Cecilia at 5:52PM on May 29th 2008
25. 15. Write or call St.Lucie School District:
Superintendent Michael J. Lannon
772-429-3600
webmastr@st.lucie.k12.w
Charles at 9:26PM on May 29th 2008
26. What the hell was this moronic person thinking?? Can you say "Lord Of the Flies"?? Way to teach 5 yr olds about compassion, respect, acceptance, tolerance..fire her butt and put it in jail a couple of months.AGH!!!!
Ev at 5:53PM on May 29th 2008
27. It's IDEA - not NCLB - that mandates proper services for disabled students. To those who think kids who need help should be kept from mainstreaming, maybe we should put anyone who needs glasses in a school for the blind.
You wouldn't believe how horribly these children are made to feel about themselves. In our case, my son was easy and cheap to educate. He graduated on the honor roll. My daughters needed more accommodations. The districts own documentation proves how corrupted they are. My daughters were physically abused, ridiculed in front of class, made so afraid that one lost the ability to speak, police were called for intentionally triggered manifestations of the autism, false criminal charges were pursued (the court didn't appreciate that), records have been manipulated and purged ... you get the picture. We live in Utah; schools are above the law here.
Rochelle at 6:06PM on May 29th 2008
28. this is exactly why something has to be done about
a group of prof. people who can not be fired from
their job because of tennor. How could someone in
and educational setting even think about doing such a thing.. Teachers have a lot a power over
our children more than some people can imagine
more people who send their children to school should take that into consideration when they send
there child off to school every single person
who sends a child off to school each day should
assume nothing........
marie at 11:51AM on May 31st 2008
29. this is exactly why something has to be done about
a group of prof. people who can not be fired from
their job because of tennor. How could someone in
and educational setting even think about doing such a thing.. Teachers have a lot a power over
our children more than some people can imagine
more people who send their children to school should take that into consideration when they send
there child off to school every single person
who sends a child off to school each day should
assume nothing........
marie at 11:50AM on May 31st 2008
30. It's IDEA - not NCLB - that mandates proper services for disabled students. Rochelle, you are correct, I mistated. Thanks for the clarification
irr at 6:44PM on May 29th 2008