CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: teacher reassigned for ousting student

Teacher lets class vote kindergartner out :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Nation

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — A kindergarten teacher has been reassigned after she allowed her students to oust a fellow 5-year-old from the classroom because of his disciplinary problems.

Morningside Elementary School teacher Wendy Portillo was removed from classroom duties until further action may be determined, according to St. Lucie County School district spokesman Janice Karst said this week.

Last week, Portillo held a vote in her classroom in which the students “voted out” 5-year-old Alex Barton, who is in the process of being tested for Asperger’s Disorder, a type of high-functioning autism, said his mother, Melissa Barton.