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Voting teachers out of the classroom
February 10, 2011 by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) at 05:45 AM
This three-minute video profiles a Florida mom whose son’s teacher organized his fellow kindergarten students to vote him out of the classroom. Because it’s just about impossible to fire bad teachers, this teacher is still in the classroom and continuing to abuse helpless children. The mom is now campaigning to end teacher tenure in Florida. Normally, I would rate her chances at a bit below zero, but Florida is not like other jurisdictions. We’ll let you know if she succeeds.
I will give her a better chance than most people would, because the special-needs parents is very well organized, and each and every one has stories of discrimination occurring in the regular classroom.
“Melissa Barton reacts to the dismissal of Wendy Portillo. Portillo is the Port St. Lucie Florida teacher who allowed her class to “vote” Alex Barton, a boy who has Asperger’s Syndrome (an Autism Spectrum Disorder) out of her classroom. The judge subsequently upheld the ruling that dismissed Portillo from employment as a teacher.”
http://www.youtube.com/user/OntarioAutism#p/a/u/1/0BN9BIYd-Ss
“What good is it to advocate for your child if there is no punishment for the teacher?” says Barton. “I absolutely will go after tenure this year and my intent is to see the elimination of tenure by the end of 2011.”
http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_st_lucie_county/boy-voted-out-of-class-settlement-
“After returning to the classroom in Port St. Lucie Portillo once again became a figure of controversy for abusing a little girl with a hearing disability, according to the Department of Education findings. Portillo and two other teachers refused to use a microphone so that their voices could be amplified by the girl’s hearing aid. Rather than use the microphone, Portillo and the other teachers would scream at the girl to “pay attention” and even make fun of her deafness—with the microphone off.
“Why does this happen?” asks Barton. “How could a teacher—a teacher on probation after violating the rights of a little boy—behave in this way and not lose her job? It’s the union. And it’s tenure.”
To back up her claim, Barton rattles off a long chain of abuses she claims have been suffered by children across the country at the hands of unaccountable teachers. Perhaps the most shocking incident involved a 300-pound Texan teacher who sat on an autistic child until he died. Though the incident was ruled a homicide, the man, who has since moved to Virginia, still teaches. “
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/juice/2010/12/wendy_portillo_alex_barton_autism_settlement.php
The next link criticizing Melissa Barton and her actions.
http://midnightinchicago.wordpress.com/2010/12/22/melissa-barton-concerned-parent/
The last link is one of the many examples of support for Melissa, and reasons.
“There is no excuse whatsoever for a teacher, who ought to be setting an example of positive values, to instead teach a group of kindergarteners to bully and ostracize an emotionally vulnerable child. Wendy Portillo needs to be removed from that classroom immediately, so that she cannot abuse any more children. The St. Lucie County Schools must also be made aware of the need to review and strengthen the school district’s policies on preventing bullying and other abuse, as well as training teachers about neurological differences.”
http://autisticbfh.blogspot.com/2008/05/st-lucie-county-schools-vote-wendy.html
Melissa is doing a service for all children with special needs, and making it apparent how children with special needs are viewed in a negative light by the people within the education system.