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 4 of 16)
46. MY COMMENT IS FOR ALL THOSE THAT THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA. DID YOU FALL AND BUMP YOUR HEAD TODAY?? THERE IS NOTHING SENSIBLE ABOUT LETTING A GROUP OF FIVE YEAR OLDS RUN YOUR CLASSROOM. NOT TO MENTION THE TERRIBLE LESSON THE TEACHER HERSELF EXHIBITS IN FRONT OF THE CHILDREN.IF YOU ARE SO TIRED AND FED UP WITH YOUR JOB,THEN YOU SHOULD GET OUT AND FIND A PROFESSION THAT DOESN'T AFFECT THE MINDS OF 1000'S OF THE SMALL CHILDREN YOU COME INTO CONTACT WITH EVERYDAY. TEACHING IS A GIFT AND YOU AFFECT THESE KIDS. YOU HAVE SCARRED THIS CHILD FOR LIFE AND YOU DESERVE TO BE STRIPPED OF YOUR LICENSE. YOU SHOULD THINK ABOUT THAT
Amber at 12:15AM on May 30th 2008
47. If the parents sue They should sue the school district for continued cost for therapy to try and rebuild the boy's self esteme and self confidence. The teacher can be sued in a seperate case for her responsibility in this crime. That would probably take away her home and savings, as well as her ability to continue to TEACH. This will not solve all the problems, but it is a start.
Please remember, we all want to be perfect; But we are only human and extreme conditions do cause all of us to lose the professional edge. There needs to be some understanding of human failings and eventually forgiveness for a mistake in judgement under the extremes which bring about the failings in ourselves.
Lets be real, as well as human. Does this teacher still believe she was right? Does she sleep well at night, or is the incident playing through her mind all the time? Is she trying to figure out what she might have done to change the outcome? Is there remorse? We all have incidents that plague us afterwards, and brings a challenge to our self esteem; does this teacher still have self confidence in her abilities to teach children, ro does she feel she needs time off to recover her abilities to deal with a challenge?
We want to place blame, we need to believe we as individuals can avoid a lapse in judgement under extreme conditions. I know I am human and I still make mistakes. Our society has taught us we must be perfect, and never make mistakes. I find living under that added stress is another nail in my coffin.
Please recognise that she is human, and that there will be a reconing at some point for the teacher. We as people are voting her out of class, does that make us better than her? Are we so perfect? I pray for our society and the error of belief that we must always be perfect!
lldeatrich at 2:38AM on Jun 4th 2008
48. Asperger's isn't exactly autism. It is akin to autism and on the autistic spectrum, but not true autism. Any psychologist will tell you that. It would be nice if people could get their facts straight. Autism generally refers to someone who is low functioning (Kanner's) as opposed to high functioning (Asperger's). There is a difference. I too have Asperger's, but I do not call myself autistic because it not correct.
Hayley at 12:35AM on May 30th 2008
49. We will not know for years how this will have affected or damaged this little boy. It will take a long time if ever and with a lot of positive comments to ever overcome this.This teacher should not be allowed to teach anymore or be around children.
victoria at 12:57AM on May 30th 2008
50. A couple of people wrote in about needing to hear the teachers sid eof the story. The bottom line is that it would not make any difference. There is nothing at all that that little boy could ever have done to have diserved having a teacher have his peers turn on him and call him names. In school that is called bullying!! Teachers are supposed to teach children in schools not to do this. Not only was it horrible for the little boys who was called names, put down, and not wanted by his teacher and peers along with thrown out like trash, but the other children were taught that it is OK to treat their peers this way. How nice that there were two sensible and kind children who voted to keep him in the class, what great leaders they will be!!
victoria at 1:05AM on May 30th 2008
51. This teacher was way out of line but she and the other kids were probably frustrated with how the retarded kid had disrupted the class all year. Why should sixteen other kids pay the price because his parents used drugs or decided to have a kid at an advanced age?
Jeremy at 1:17AM on May 30th 2008
52. 18. 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
*****************************************
I sent an email too. Thank you for providing it. As a mother of an Aspergers child I was absolutly appalled by this teachers behavior.
Kathleen at 1:38AM on May 30th 2008
53. Jeremy #46, you're the retard. There's a possible link between autism and innoculations that are given to infants. Their condition has nothing to do with parents who did drugs or the age of the mother. As of right now there is a federal investigation into the link of childhood inocculations and Autism. And these kids have higher IQ's than you anyway.
Kathleen at 1:45AM on May 30th 2008
54. I work with autistic children in the Birth-3 population. I agree that the way Alex's teacher "handled" her classroom is not at all appropriate, especially with a Kingergarten classroom. I didn't read the whole story but most autistic children are assigned an aide. They are typically with the larger group for most of their day, but also receive speech, OT and other therapies, depending on their needs. The IEP provides an educational plan for every child with special needs. Unfortunately, for many school systems, there isn't enough money to properly service children with developmental delays, including autism. I'm guessing that's why Alex has an aide only 3 days a week.
Julie, it shouldn't be Alex's problem if his teacher wasn't "trained" properly. That sounds like an excuse to me! We all have bad days but to rid your class of any student is totally unacceptable! How would you feel?
Maggie at 1:51AM on May 30th 2008
55. This isn't a teacher.
A teacher teaches - and speaking with the family and maybe a doctor who knows about autism would have allowed this teacher (I use the term loosely) to teach a valuable lesson to the children about understanding and compassion.
Instead, she allowed the "mob" to decide out of frustration and anger. This "mob" mentality is where groups like the KKK and Hamas get their members.
So, congratulations Wendy Portillo on your exercise into bullydom.
Oh, and by the way - I took a vote . . . and everyone agreed how totally stupid you are and that you're fired.
Ralph Du Bois at 1:20PM on Jun 1st 2008
56. This has absolutely nothing to do with whether this particular child should have been in the class in the first place, or whether his challenges were too great for him to be placed in a regular class with a teacher untrained and unequiped to provide for his needs. The issue here goes far beyond personal concerns.
This has to do with a fundamental misperception of democracy.
There are certain rights which are not subject to majority vote. These are sometimes called fundamental rights and liberties or foundational rights and liberties. You cannot decide by majority vote that boys/girls/Asians/African Americans/Mexicans/Filipinos/Jews/Muslims/Protestants/Catholics/Hindus/kids in wheelchairs/people whose opinions you don't like should be removed from classroom. These are issues that cannot be determined by majority rule.
BTW, this also has nothing to do with "elitism." It sounds more like The Lord of the Flies put into practice by an authority figure -- oh, the irony!
What this teacher did was beyond inexcusable, not simply because she hurt one student's feelings and damaged him psychologically. What she did goes far beyond the interests of one particular student, no matter how important those interests may be. If the facts as presented are correct, this teacher should never teach again.
Gigi from Chicago at 3:07AM on May 30th 2008
57. According to the original news article, the teacher readily admitted that this is exactly what she did. We do have her side of the story. She made an atrocious decision that will affect not only the bullied child but all of his peers who were taught that cruelty is a-ok. Somebody annoys you? Get rid of them.
I understand the frustration of other teachers who feel that they get lumped into the rotten apple barrel whenever something like this happens. As former law enforcement, I feel similar frustration when people paint all police officers with the same, broad judgmental stroke. However, some actions are inexcuseable.
You do not need special training to understand that allowing mob mentality to rule in your classroom of five year olds is wrong. You do not need classes in dealing with special ed children to know that singling out one child and allowing other children to name call and bully is disgusting. If you didn't learn that when you yourself were growing up, then you have no business teaching children, period.
I didn't need special police training to learn I couldn't beat people half to death with my asp for annoying me. I didn't need special classes to learn that you don't pull a person over based solely on the color of his skin. Any officer who doesn't understand these very basic things has no business being an officer. I think those of you demanding that we empathize with this teacher ought to take off whatever defensive blinders are preventing you from seeing this for the abuse it clearly is. If you can't do that, then I seriously question whether you belong in a classroom as a teacher, either.
Lily at 3:36AM on May 30th 2008
58. parents need to take legal action aginst teacher
pakzami at 4:58AM on May 30th 2008
59. Let's all vote if this teacher should be ran out of town. She needs a job rewinding VHS video rentals.
Steven at 5:07AM on May 30th 2008
60. more information would make for a better quality debate. Add a couple of facts: Now vaccines have been shown to cause Alzheimers in some children. And, Majority Rule can equal Mob Rule, especially among those who don't remember what pluralism is. We are a pluralistic nation--that is, one that protects the rights of all groups from mob rule.
The teacher should never have put this to a vote on this question. Now that a majority of Californians have stated they favor allowing gay marriage, what happens to the stupid argument that majority rules--to those who said "most of us are against it so we win--one man one woman."
taafe at 5:48AM on May 30th 2008