A child's dignity denied, a teachable moment lost

Who did not fall in love with their kindergarten teacher? The patient guide who launches the more formal phase of your academic career sets the stage for success.

Too bad Alex Barton will have to look elsewhere for a teacher who will not quit on him. He's the 5-year-old Port St. Lucie, Fla., boy who was kicked out of his kindergarten class May 21. The teacher prompted a 14-2 vote by classmates to eject the boy, who has had discipline issues and was undergoing school-suggested tests to discern whether he has autism.

Alex will have plenty of trials in his life — the diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit disorder were confirmed last Tuesday. The last thing he needed was his teacher instigating his peers to go all "Lord of the Flies" on him.

Teacher Wendy Portillo stood the boy up in front of his classroom and asked each classmate to describe what they did not like about him, according to news and police reports. Then she asked each child to vote whether Alex deserved to remain in class. He spent the rest of the day in the nurse's office.

Portillo has been reassigned and district officials are investigating. The police department and the state attorney's office are not pressing charges.

The teacher told police she thought if Alex heard from his classmates how his behavior was affecting them, it would have more impact than scolding from adults. Boy, did she get impact.

Alex's mother heard him in bed, repeating, "I'm not special." As the mother of a child with autism, I thought of how my 11-year-old son repeats over and over phrases that trouble him.

How could any child process such mean and cruel behavior, let alone a child whose suspected disability might make it even harder to do so.

Alex's mother is considering litigation. I can't blame her. Mothers of special-needs children are especially attuned to their inner Big Bad Mama Bear.

My beast stirred mightily when I read about Alex. School officials already flagged the problem. The idea that Portillo would treat Alex as a willfully naughty boy — and not as a child suspected of having a disability — is disturbing.

Inclusion is important, not only for Alex and other special-needs kids. Classmates need to see children with disabilities — if a little quirky or needing extra help — are part of our society. These kids like jokes, baseball, princesses, computers, video games and Hannah Montana, too.

Last year, my friend Chris Johnson, whose son is in a wheelchair, and I spoke to teachers at a school opening a special-education class our sons would attend. Chris made a strong argument for inclusion: Some of the typically developing students one day will be speech and occupational therapists, special-education teachers, doctors and parents to people with disabilities. They should see now these children are deserving of respect and dignity.

What does Portillo's actions say to the other children in class? That it is OK to isolate kids who are different and struggling, to ridicule, to exclude, to reject them. Sounds like a primer for bullies in training — rather than a teachable moment grounded in compassion. District officials are remiss if they do not ensure Portillo's other students receive bully-prevention training.

The heroes in Alex's story are the two little kids who stood by him, who would not go along with their hapless peers and their thoughtless teacher. Bless the giant hearts that beat in their pint-size bodies.

The grown-up who should know better could learn a thing or two from them.

Kate Riley's column appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. Her e-mail address is kriley@seattletimes.com; for a podcast Q&A with the author, go to www.seattletimes.com/edcetera