A Jefferson High School teacher has been removed from the classroom after a student complained of racist remarks.

Senior Augustine Ortiz said he was in English class one day late last week, and his teacher began the class with a discussion of the changes to immigration enforcement law in Arizona.

The new law has created a firestorm of controversy in recent weeks, sparking a series of protests and plans for legal challenges.

Ortiz, who was wearing a jersey from a Mexican soccer team, said the teacher told him to sit in the front row.

She proceeded to single him out repeatedly, Ortiz said, pointing at him as she made comments like, “The Mexicans with their attitudes are the racist ones.”

Continuing to point at Ortiz, she allegedly told the class that Mexicans always “expect handouts” and “soon it's going to be the United States of Mexico,” according to Ortiz.

Efforts to reach the teacher, who has been placed on administrative leave, were unsuccessful.

“I'm afraid she has no comment,” said a man who answered at a phone number listed under the teacher's name.

Another student in the class that day, Reina Mondragon, 18, corroborated Ortiz's story.

“The kind of discussion that we had on Thursday, May 6, wasn't like the discussions that we normally have,” she said, adding the teacher questioned why documents in the United States frequently are translated into Spanish and whether Mexicans should be allowed to own land in this country.

“It didn't feel like a discussion to me. It felt more like an attack, and like she was judging people from Mexico,” said Mondragon, whose father is a naturalized citizen from Mexico. “She usually has discussions, but they've never gone this critical or this far.”

Ortiz, a mariachi whose grandparents are from Mexico, went to the office to complain. The principal was away that day, so he spoke with a vice principal, who Ortiz said brushed him off.

“That day I was so upset,” Ortiz said.

When the school's principal was notified Monday of the incident, the teacher was removed from the classroom and an investigation was launched, said Leslie Price, a spokeswoman for the San Antonio Independent School District.

The San Antonio Express-News is not identifying the teacher pending the results of the investigation.

Price said she couldn't comment about what type of disciplinary action might be meted out, should the inquiry find inappropriate comments were made during class.

“We'll do what we consider to be appropriate for the outcome of the investigation,” she said. There's no timeline for completion of the investigation, but Price said the district is moving swiftly.

Across the country, the Arizona law has spurred heated discussion, debate and protests from opponents who label it as thinly disguised racial profiling.

The rancor over potential civil-rights violations also has triggered boycotts and convention cancellations. Several national organizations plan legal challenges, and the Arizona Republic reported the city of Phoenix estimates it will lose $90 million in convention business over the next five years.

So far, the largest public protests occurred May 1, when hundreds of thousands of marchers in at least 70 U.S. cities, including San Antonio, took to the streets to oppose the Arizona law.

Angie Garcia, a neighbor of the school and a state adviser with the League of United Latin American Citizens, said the principal handled the situation well upon her return by referring the matter to human resources, but that more needs to be done.

She called the teacher's alleged remarks appalling.

LULAC is calling for the teacher to apologize to Jefferson students over the school's intercom system, Garcia said.

Ortiz's father also supports the idea of a public apology. The teacher already has apologized to his son, Daniel Ortiz said, adding he doesn't want the teacher to be fired.

Augustine Ortiz said he was not satisfied with the apology he received.

“Everybody had their own views on it. That's fine, but I felt offended and that's what matters,” he said.

“There's a time and a place for everything and this was not the time or the place. ... You're supposed to be neutral. You're supposed to provide information to educate your students.”

Perhaps most upsetting to Ortiz was that the teacher in question had been his favorite instructor.

“She actually said we need to stand up for what we believe in,” he said. “And now I'm standing up for what I believe in.”

Staff Writer Elaine Ayala contributed to this report.

As originally published, this story contained an error.