The answer to the question: Alex Barton is a 5 year old boy who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, which is a relatively high-functioning form of autism. He hums a lot and likes to eat his homework (the dog gets a pass on this one). He is not violent; he doesn't try to hurt others; he's just different.
Now imagine a teacher, who is aware of the illness, bringing the boy up to the front of the class where she asks each student to tell Alex what they don't like about him, and then has a class vote to kick Alex out of the class.
The name of the teacher Wendy Portillo, and this happened in the Port St. Lucie school district in Florida. Ms. Portillo has been assigned to administrative duties and continues to receive full pay. According to the teacher's union, she was simply having a bad day and should be allowed to return to teaching.
This woman should never be allowed in a classroom ever again.
An argument could be made that because of his autism, maybe this won't have any long term impact on Alex - no harm, no foul. But what about the lesson of intolerance that she taught the rest of the class? What about the lesson that it's okay to demean and disparage another human being just because they're different?
As disgusting as her actions were, the actions of the teacher's union were totally predictable. One of their own is threatened by their lack of common sense and decency, so circle the wagons, wait until the dust settles, and then bring the offender back into a classroom where her warped judgement can yet again have a deleterious effect on the minds of other 5 year olds.
Therein lies the real problem - teacher's unions. Let me state that I have nothing but the greatest respect for most teachers. One of my high school teacher's was Godfather to my first daughter, and he took me to Oswego before I started college there so he could introduce me to some people in the community. Other teacher's have given me a love for music, reading, and a desire to learn - their contributions to my education were essential.
The problem, at least from my perspective, is that the bad apples are protected just as avidly as the good apples. Ms. Portillo should never set foot in another classroom, but if the union gets their way, she'll be back teaching next fall. How can anyone with a shred of decency support this woman going back into the classroom?
Everyone makes mistakes and has bad days; granted, but when your mistake is as egregious as Ms. Portillo's, union loyalty and concern should be directed at the students they are charged to educate, not the occasional teacher who, for whatever reason, is unfit to teach our children.
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10 comments:
No you cannot excuse the teacher. But before we go further let's be a bit more precise.
First, the boy has not yet been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. His mother is having him tested for it. Second, the boy's mother mother says the child has disciplinary issues. I can't see where the specifics of the disciplinary issues are discussed. Whether the boy does get violent or not is not mentioned. But mentioning those minor points does not make your story as appealing to your readers. Most conservatives do not want children with disabilities mainstreamed in the classroom and sometimes they have a good point.x
Lastly, yes the teachers union has too much power. But how about placing some blame on the other 50% of the problem.....the school boards. Remember there is a contract negotiation with the union and the school board. Unfortunately, it takes money to pursue a contract negotiation that is not going well. Money most school districts either do not have or the voters do not want to spend.
Actually PCS, you're the one who should check your facts.
Alex has in fact been diagnosed, as of May 28th. And the teacher, Ms Portillo, has been involved throughout the long process. Violent behavior was not discussed in the story because there has been none. Alex's " disciplinary issues" arise from behavior that is annoying, but not violent. On the day in question, for example, he was hiding under a table, pushing on it with his legs.
Next time, please take a few minutes to research the facts before you post.
The point that so many of the teacher's apologists seem to be missing is that regardless of the child's actions or whether there's a disability involved, using public ridicule as a form of behavior modification on a child is unacceptable. And teaching the rest of the class otherwise is even worse. The fact that the teacher has stated she feels she did nothing wrong proves she wasn't just "having a bad day", but that she has inherently bad judgement. At the very least she needs further training before being allowed to teach children.
Who the hell is apologizing for teachers Tia. Do you have a reading disability? That teacher does not belong in the classroom. Teachers Unions suck and School Boards are partly to blame. How can I be any more clear than that?
Watson,
This post reinforces the attitudes of those who would throw out the whole welfare system because a woman bought cigarettes with her food stamp change, throw out veteran's disability because a vet faked PTSD, or abolish farm subsidies because corporate farms are getting over on the system.
The hardworking competent teachers who have been protected by unions far outnumber those who didn't deserve protection.
Unions and the laws that govern them are here to support and protect workers against the unbridled exploitation by greedy corporate bandits. In some cases unions become too big for their britches, but in the big picture, they do what they were established for.
I would not want to go back to the pre-union world my immigrant ancestors toiled in.
That teacher is obviously incompetent and maybe even mentally deranged, but don't use her case to beat your conservative anti-union drum. The union’s job is to represent all teachers just like a defense attorney’s job is to protect a defendant. She will be dealt with by due process.
If she’s not, I’m sure we will hear about it from Bill “Fair & Balanced” O’Reilly.
I have placed employees in “the whale tank”, relieved of duties, pending investigations after complaints. Sometimes they returned to duty, sometimes they didn’t. They were all afforded due process. If that teacher is returned to the classroom, you’ll have something to complain about.
One more point:
If the teachers we entrust our children (“our most precious resource”) to every day didn’t have a union they would be making minimum wage, like child care providers.
I had the pleasure of interviewing a very interesting resident of Saranac. I guess he's in his 90's now. Among all the interesting stories of the early mining days (I got 2 hours of video!), he also related the incident which gave his father his nickname.
Alexander "Dummy" Carron lived on the Plateau above Saranac Hollow sometime during the 1800s? late?. His family was of French-Canadian descent and he grew up speaking French. When he reached the age of 9, he had the opportunity to attend the local school (currently the Chazy Lake Rd Corners).
First day of class, Schoolmaster Boire "introduces" young Alex to the rest of the class.
"What's your name?!"
"Where do you live?!"
After several non-responses due to incomprehension, Alex was struck once on each side of his head with the yardstick. Yardsticks in those days were not flimsy objects. Alexander had both his eardrums destroyed that day and was forever deaf. Eventually he learned to read lips both in French and English, but he never did learn to speak properly. He was forever known as "Dummy" Carron.
I don't know if Schoolmaster Boire had the benefit of a union or tenure.
Neither did those nuns that beat the crap out of me for 8 years.
They didn't need a union. They had tenure because they were married to Jesus.
Maybe we needed a student union.
NCL - sorry to hear about all the nun-sense you had to endure as a child. I guess I was lucky because I enjoyed my time in Catholic school. I had the same nun for grades 5-7: Sister Mary Gracille. She was a wonderful woman who taught with a firm, but loving hand.
I did research the story before writing and Alex has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. He's not violent, just annoying, like me. I would never intentionally leave out pertinent facts just to make the story more appealing.
I agree with a lot of the rest of your post, like not wanting to go back to pre-union days, and the fact that most teachers are honest, hardworking folk, but suggesting that teachers would be making a minimum wage without a union is a bit of hyperbole.
TP - thanks for the anecdote - it sounds like a tale from Charles Dickens.
I've never really given a lot of thought to the effect that placing a "special needs" child in a regular classroom can have; either on the child or the rest of the class. I didn't know conservatives were supposed to have a position on this, but I would think you have to look at this on a case by case basis.
As long as the "special needs" student is gaining from the experience and does not have a disruptive effect on the class, I don't see any problem with that. I would hope that one of the best results would be that the "normal" children learn respect and compassion for those that are different from them.
Unfortunately, that was not the lesson learned in Ms. Portillo's class.
Thank you all for sharing.
Having "disabled" children mainstreamed in a regular classroom is a difficult topic. Of course it is good for the disabled child but what about the effect on learning on the regular "abled" children? Do they have any rights in this situation? The situation does depend on the particular disability affecting the mainstreamed child. Whether the disabled child has an assistant assigned to them. As an ex-school board member I've thought alot about this situation. If my child had a learning disability or was disabled in some other way I'd fight very hard to insure they were educated in the best way possible. This in my mind does not necessarily mean mainstreaming the child, especially if it affects the teaching environment for the rest of the class. This, believe it or not, is a conservative position but I believe is one based on reason and logic.
For a more thoughtful post on this issue read what Glenn Sacks has to say.
I work in a public school system, have for over 8 years---I'm not a teacher--and I've come across a few darling students that have no disabilities but sure are disruptive--so should we vote them out of class too, or put them into a special classroom?? They are just looking for attention, and they do this on a daily basis--and yes, some, but not all, of the special needs student can be disruptive too.
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