SchoolFinder Blog

Abuse of Power

Perhaps you remember the town of Port St. Lucie. Recently a teacher was fired for “missing too much work”. However, as we have written about several times on this blog (article 1, article 2, article 3, article 4) she may have actually have been fired for what I guess you would call conduct unbecoming a teacher.

This time the elementary school, (Morningside Elementary School) has a kindergarten teacher allowing students to vote out a classmate.

According to Melissa Barton, Wendy Portillo, the kindergarten teacher in question, was having difficulty with with her son on a regular basis. On the day in question she allegedly sent the boy to the principals office and when he returned she stood him at the front of the class while the other students told him what bothered them about him. Then she had the students vote on whether he should be allowed to stay in the class.

The Florida State’s Attorney’s Office has investigated the matter, but found no basis for charging the teacher with a crime. However as most people would imagine the incident has affected not only the boy in question, but many of his classmates also. Students learned not only how to count votes, but how to hurt a fellow student. Hopefully, parents, such as Stacie Clawson, can teach their children some empathy and show them that what happened was wrong and hurtful.

Currently the teacher has been reassigned to the district office while they continue with their investigation. She may or may not be fired depending on the results of the investigation.