Kindergartner Voted Out By Students

Outraged Mom Of Special Needs Son Talks Exclusively With The Early Show

(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.

Click on the video below to watch the interview.



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.

[apricotrose]

Most of you agree that the teacher needs some kind of action taken against her which I am all for it. With the rise of more handicapped kids being born each year there should be a better way to teach them without the bully type actions of teachers/peers. I have seen teachers and a principle leave bruises on a autistic child. In schools today staff will nicely tell the one that is bullying a child to stop it but they will not send a not home, or even call the parent of the child that is doing it. In the US if you have a child that is not "perfect" as they see it expect your child to be bullied, shoved, hit even spit on by some. To Ms. Barton, you can and most likely will see some sort of bullying being done towards your son in almost any type of school setting that he attends. My child has had to deal with it for several years but each time it still hurts him.

[BlameYT]

Fat sow, Just another exaple of the small briancase of apes.

[02smitty]

I can't believe the comments I have read. Last I checked we did't teach are kids this way. If he was a disruption to the other students handle with adults and do not involve other kids. She did not have to single him out to make a point. I am all for equal rights, so what about his rights!! If they don't fire her, the mom should sue. Teachers like this is probally why kids end up killing other kids & teachers. I think avery parent of a student in this class should be outraged at her actions.

[rouen1968]

This teacher is showing once again what is wrong with the American education system. We need teachers so bad that school districts are just hiring bodies.

What this witch has done is an absolute atrocity to this little boy and his family. And how the local school district is handling this is once again showing how little balls people have anymore for fear of getting sued by a teacher for wrongful termination because of who she is.

Fire this teacher and take responsibility for the actions of a bad teacher and make compensation to the family for the school districts bad hiring decisions.

Please Florida grow a set and get this dealt with.

[sylbroyles]

to JohnLee,

there are proper channels to remove a child from a class and this is not one of them. If the child was not learning in class, then the teacher should have spoken to the parent and special ed teacher and had a conference regarding placement for the child.

you do not hurt a child''s self esteem.

[buzymom13]

I agree that this child needed special education. By the sound of the story the mother is in the process of getting that support for the child. I have 6 children (all adopted) and 4 of them are special needs of one level or another, so I can tell you that it is not an easy process to get the support your child requires. It is also not easy helping your child make a life in this world especially when there are people like this teacher in the way. We''re met a few people like this who think that it is their job to put people in their places and make sure that special needs kids are put down. If the shoe was on the other foot, this teacher would be raising the roof you can bet. People have forgotten how to be mannerly. Rudeness abounds and eventually it will come full circle. Karma is a pain! Hopefully this teacher reaps a whole world full of it!

[johnlee241]

This kid was kicked out of the class room was in the wrong class room anyways. He should of been in a class room for special need kids.

The teacher did the right thing by kicking him out, because he probably wasn''t getting the proper education from a normal classroom. Get into reality people, a child with special need will not be treated the CORRECT way from a regular teacher, they need to be in a classroom where a teacher is trained to TEACH children with special needs.

Oh by the way for those who say we are civilized, Look at Iraq, we kill people for oil..so much for civilized country.

[apricotrose]

Most schools that say they educate special needs kids will allow them to be picked on to bullying them. I have seen kids being mistreated due to a diagnosis while the true bullies get by with it. To reply to your comment there are only a few special needs schools in each state. There are several classes taught within the school for special needs children to be in which at times the more so-called normal kids are in the same classroom with them. Regular schools do not have the funding or teacher training to give special needs children the right education they need to be successful.

[johnlee241]

This kid was kicked out of the class room was in the wrong class room anyways. He should of been in a class room for special need kids.

The teacher did the right thing by kicking him out, because he probably wasn''t getting the proper education from a normal classroom. Get into reality people, a child with special need will not be treated the CORRECT way from a regular teacher, they need to be in a classroom where a teacher is trained to TEACH children with special needs.

Oh by the way for those who say we are civilized, Look at Iraq, we kill people for oil..so much for civilized country.

[laadvocate]

The actions by the teacher would be wrong regardless of the child''s disAbilities. You do not publically chastise, humiliate, and BULLY a 5 year old or anyone for that matter. We are a civilized country and are expected to behave that way.

[laadvocate]

SGTRock, I gather you are in the military?