[May,2008] Florida kindergarten teacher Wendy Portillo was reassigned to an office duty post in the St. Lucie County School District. Her demotion comes after a controversial classroom activity in which Portillo allegedly had the five year old students in her class "vote out" classmate Alex Barton in a Survivor like game.
Barton, age five, was voted out 14-2 as Portillo allowed the children to tell him why they did not like him. Reasons included that he was "annoying" and "disgusting." He was then sent to the nurse's office where he spent the rest of the day. Barton was in the process of being tested for Asperger Syndrome, a disability which can cause difficulties in communication and social interaction skills.
Portillo claims she had the class share how his behavior was affecting other students in the class. She reportedly instructed the class that the vote was just for the day, not forever. She hoped Barton would better respond hearing the information from kids his age, rather than adults.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/27/earlyshow/main4130288.shtml
[August,2010] Now, in the latest case, a report from the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights found evidence that Portillo and two other teachers discriminated against a girl with a hearing impairment at Allapattah Flats K-8 School in Port St Lucie.
The teachers were supposed to wear a microphone whenever the girl was in their classroom, so she could hear them. But the girl claimed sometimes they did not wear it.
http://www.examiner.com/special-education-in-national/teacher-who-kicked-5-year-old-autistic-out-of-class-now-refused-to-wear-mike-for-deaf-child
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