I seriously have no words adequate to express my RAGE

[mickeym]

Via aspecialparent, but also seen on raynedanser and keepaofthecheez's LJs:

Mom says special needs child 'voted' out of classroom.

I really...can't describe how reading that made me feel. My *13yr old child*, who is special needs himself, said, when I broke down and started crying, "that's SICKENING", wrt to the teacher's behavior. He hugged me and held me while I cried, and said he couldn't understand why a teacher (or anyone!) would do that to a little kid. (Do I even have to say how proud I am of him right now?)

Some other links, by way of keepaofthecheez:

Apparently some parents started a petition to get Wendy Portillo voted "out of her class", aka FIRED FOR FUCKING LIFE. If you want to sign, or just simply voice your displeasure with the school, sign here. This is an absolute disgrace.

Also, from here:

Barton said after the vote, Alex's teacher asked him how he felt.

"He said, 'I feel sad,'" she said.

Alex left the classroom and spent the rest of the day in the nurse's office, she said.

Barton said when she came to pick up her son at the school on Wednesday, he was leaving the nurse's office.

"He was shaken up," she said. Barton said the nurse told her to talk with the child's teacher, who told her what happened.

Alex hasn't been back to school since then, and Barton said he won't be returning. He starts screaming when she brings him with her to drop off his sibling at school.

Thursday night, his mother heard him saying "I'm not special."

You can reach the school and members of the board of education here.

Please feel free to pass this information on, link to this post, whatever. Please go vote in the petition to get the teacher fired for LIFE. If you have kids yourself, talk to them about the importance of valuing everyone, regardless of any disabilities or differences. I know the kids in the class were going along with what the teacher said to do -- they're five year olds, for heaven's sake -- but it's never, EVER too early to teach love and tolerance and understanding and to underscore the importance of standing up for those who maybe need it.

Editing to add information:

From hanncoll: If you're as outraged and disgusted about this as I am, please take a few minutes to contact the St. Lucie County School Board at webmastr@stlucie.k12.fl.us, or call Lucie County Schools Superintendent Michael J. Lannon at (772) 429-3925 (fax #: 772.429.3916, email: lannonm@stlucie.k12.fl.us), or contact the school principal, Marcia Cully at (772) 337-6730 (email: cullym@stlucie.k12.fl.us) and tell them so.

Because Alex has been repeating the phrase "I'm not special" since the incident, there's information here about a card-writing campaign to let Alex know that he IS special.

Comments

[tealin.livejournal.com]

Good grief, what is wrong with people, now days? That woman needs to have her teaching license revoked--permanently. And that nurse wasn't much better, letting him sit for hours without calling a parent or reporting the incident. I hope there are some serious repercussions.

This lack of empathy and common sense is really starting to feel pervasive though, and it's disheartening. We've run into a minor variation of the same thing, locally. A litle boy in my sons' preschool is on the rambunctious side, and often pushes and shoves, where others are more restrained. Still, he's well within the boundaries of behavior for a neurotypical four year old, and his mother spends several days a week in the classroom, in order to help with him. The teachers also respond promptly and don't let things get out of hand.

Despite this, a group of young mothers banded together to demand he be booted from the school. When they were denied, they tried to rally the rest of us into removing our own children in some sort of twisted solidarity. They also made frequent, pointed comments in front of the family in question. Eventually, a few of them transferred their precious little flowers out, and the furor died down. But man, the pain they must have caused that family in the meantime.