LITTLETON, Colo. -- An elementary school teacher in Littleton said she is being targeted for dismissal because she is a lesbian.

Coronado Elementary School teacher Susan Romeo has been called a bully and has been accused of intimidating teachers, students and parents. Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Cynthia Stevenson has recommended she be fired.

Romeo said a group of parents has organized to monitor her classroom and has held meetings to get rid of her.

District spokesman Rick Kaufman said Stevenson's recommendation has nothing to do with Romeo's sexual preference. He said it is based on the findings made by a team consisting of a school district lawyer and investigator.

Romeo teaches the school's gifted and talented third- and fourth-grade students. Some parents say that she has yelled at their children, demeaned them, and told them that they'll never be smart.

Lisabeth Smith is one of 17 parents who have transferred their children out of Romeo's class since 2001. Smith pulled out her son in October 2004.

"(My son) was telling me that he was afraid of her, that he didn't want to go to school, begging me to homeschool him," Smith said.

Other parents claim that their children became physically ill when they had to go to Romeo's class.

"It doesn't have anything to do with her sexual orientation. I don't care what she does outside school," Michele Eigel told the Denver Post. Eigel pulled her son out of Romeo's class when he told her that he was being picked on by his teacher.

Romeo contends she is a sensitive to the needs of others and there are many other parents and teachers who support her.

She has been on paid administrative leave since November.