Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Fire the Teacher...UGH

CBS) A Port St. Lucie, Fla., mother is outraged and considering legal action after her son's kindergarten teacher led his classmates to vote him out of class.

Melissa Barton says Morningside Elementary teacher Wendy Portillo had her son's classmates say what they didn't like about 5-year-old Alex. She says the teacher then had the students vote, and voted Alex, who is being evaluated for Asperger's syndrome -- an autism spectrum disorder -- out of the class by a 14-2 margin.

Barton and her son, Alex, talked exclusively with Harry Smith live from West Palm Beach, Fla.

Barton filed a complaint with Morningside's school resource officer.

St. Lucie School spokeswoman Janice Karst said the district is investigating the incident, but could not make any further comment. The state attorney's office concluded the matter did not meet the criteria for emotional child abuse, so no criminal charges will be filed.

Teacher Wendy Portillo was advised by the school board not to speak to the press so she declined our interview offer.

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To see the video, sorry I couldn't figure out how to embed it:

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=4130015n

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OH MY. When I read the first blurb, I thought it was going to be like having Survivor in the classroom at the end of the year. But to actually say you don’t like a child and then vote the student out, WHAT WAS THIS TEACHER THINKING? That is a crock to me that the teacher doesn’t think she did anything wrong. Perhaps she thought people wouldn’t believe the boy. What is this school district thinking keeping such an unqualified teacher? Clearly the nurse knew this teacher was in the wrong. Granted it is Florida which has masterminded the coverup. I would like to hear if the school has anything valid to say (cause this is just one side of the story and she did try to pull a political card.) Hopefully, the other parent’s children will realize that this shouldn’t be said about a child even if they too wish the special needs child wasn’t included in that classroom.

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