The Kentucky mother of an autistic boy who says he was stuffed in a duffel bag for misbehaving in class has pulled her son out of school, and insists if changes aren't made he's not going back.

Sandra Baker said that although classes resumed Tuesday in their central Kentucky school district following the holiday break, she will home-school her 9-year-old son, Christopher.

Baker said she won't send the fourth-grader back to Mercer County Intermediate School in Harrodsburg until the staff is better trained to deal with children with developmental disabilities. She also insists that the teacher responsible be fired.

"It's going to have to change or he's not going back," she said.

Baker says she saw her son in a bag Dec. 14. Since then, the case has spurred an online petition drive.

The petition — started by Lydia Brown, an autistic Georgetown University freshman from Boston — has garnered 157,000 signatures, said Benjamin Joffe-Walt, a spokesman for petition website change.org.

"This campaign has resonated with people across the country," he said. "Without any funding or institutional support, in a matter of days, Lydia built a veritable movement of 150,000 people in all 50 states supporting a family she has never even met."

The petition mirrors Baker's demands for comprehensive training for school personnel and dismissal of the teacher.

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