this ain't a scene classroom, it's an arms race educational nightmare

There's a local radio station here in San Diego that recognizes outstanding teachers, and likes to tout the slogan "teachers make a difference".

Well, I just read about a very outstanding teacher in Florida who's made a huge difference in the lives of her pupils that won't be soon forgotten. That being said, though, keep in mind that "outstanding" doesn't always imply "in a good way", and "making a difference" isn't always a positive thing.

Wendy Portillo, a kindergarten teacher in Port St. Lucie, Florida, had her students vote one of their classmates out of the class. As if that's not bad enough, she added a heaping dose of public humiliation to that sundae by having him stand in front of the class while his peers announced what they dislike about him, calling him "annoying" and "disgusting", among other things.

Alex Barton, the five-year-old boy who was voted off Survivor-style and forced to spend the rest of the day in the nurse's office, has a history of disciplinary problems which may be attributed in part to Asperger's syndrome, which is a developmental disorder in the same family as austism. This makes an already repugnant episode all the more alarming. Alex should indeed be removed from his class, but not because his teacher and classmates dislike him -- he should be taken out of that environment and placed in a special needs class with teachers who know how to handle kids with developmental disorders.

As someone who's worked with kids for the better part of a decade, I know what it's like to deal with problem children. I had more than my share of bad kids back in my camp counselor days, and I admit, I sometimes got to the end of my rope and used some questionable discipline tactics. I really can relate to this teacher in that sense. However, I was a teenaged schmuck back then, and now that I'm an adult I know that there are better ways to handle the situation. Portillo is also an adult, yet she hasn't seemed to figure that out yet.

Disability or not, end of the rope or not, there's really no excuse for what Ms. Portillo did. The Barton family has removed Alex from the school, and he's so traumatized by the incident that he screams every time he goes with his parents to drop his brother off there, which may seem a bit over-the-top unless you've known anyone with an austism spectrum disorder.

In my opinion, Ms. Portillo has clearly demonstrated that she is grossly unqualified to teach children, and should thusly and urgently be relieved of her job. I also think she should start looking into other lines of work, because no school with any sensibility will want to hire a teacher who was fired for borderline emotional abuse.

The school district is investigating the affair, but if you want to voice your opinion on the matter, feel free to do so:

St. Lucie County School Board
District Offices
4204 Okeechobee Rd.
Fort Pierce, Fl. 34947
Phone: (772) 429-3600

Principal Marcia Cully:
cullym@stlucie.k12.fl.us

If you're tempted to send hate mail to the teacher, please don't. Expressing your concerns and feelings to the administration through appropriate channels will suffice. There's no need to get nasty. Really, you're better than that.

If you do decide to contact school officials, I guarantee they've already heard the pun about "voting Ms. Portillo out of the class" about a thousand times, but you can still say it anyway if you really want to. Heck, I just did.