Anyone who has a teacher in the family knows they don’t exactly rake it in while slaving away in the classroom trenches.

Their boss, on the other hand . . .

Houston schools Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra pocketed nearly all of his performance bonus this year, earning $75,000 of a potential $80,000.

The bonus, based mostly on student test scores, comes on top of Saavedra’s annual $302,000 salary. Add in other perks, such as his car allowance, and Saavedra’s total deal lands in the $450,000 neighborhood.

The bonus is approximately 25% percent of Saavedra’s salary.  By comparison, the Chronicle notes that the average teacher received a bonus of $2,100 - or 4% of the average salary.

Wow, Abe must know a lot of stuff!

This reads like something from The Onion:

That’s why Mexican immigrant Jacinto Vasquez has joined the Houston Network of Day Laborers, formed over the weekend by approximately 200 day laborers.

Their goal is to improve working conditions, set a minimum wage they’ll agree to work for and fight wage theft.

Next month, the Houston network will convene to form a leadership group, drawn from representatives of various street-corner hiring locations.

There’s also an interesting contradiction in the article. From the first graf:

The housing market’s slowdown has made work scarce.

From the wannabe-union’s organizer:

What you have to understand is they are day workers who fulfill a function in the economy.

Which is it?

LST’s very own Matt Bramanti… within arm’s reach of the Leader of the Free World.

(Click pic for full-size shot)

Someone at the Secret Service needs to lose their job…

Shelly Sekula-Gibbs says the reason she got clobbered in yesterday’s GOP run-off for the Congressional District 22 nomination was that Pete Olson went negative:

“The positive message we put out of our campaign was not strong enough to overcome all of the negativity that came out of my opponent’s campaign,” she said at an election night party at Mamacita’s Restaurant in Webster.

Huh?  Don’t we have a pot and kettle problem here?  Besides, I am always amused when a candidate cries “negative campaigning” when someone points to unflattering details about the candidate’s record.

Through this layman’s eye - and I have no insider information on either campaign so these observations may be so much hot air - it seems that Sekula-Gibbs was out-managed and out-campaigned.  Though she spent over a million dollars - and twice as much as Olson - her message didn’t resonate.  While he focused on bread and butter GOP issues - such as her past shortcomings on immigration and abortion - she labeled him an “outsider” (a claim easily dismissed when one learns his background) and pounded on the Trans Texas Corridor (certainly a bit more esoteric to voters than immigration and abortion).

Simply put, the alleged outsider seemed to have a better feel for his constituents, and it showed - he got nearly 70% of the vote.  How much Sekula-Gibbs’ own baggage - such as her short but tumultuous stint in Washington - hurt her is unclear, but it surely wasn’t an advantage.

To her credit, SSG turned to the future:

She called on her backers to get behind the Republican candidate in the fall.

As for her own future, “the former Houston City Council member said she was happy to return to her Clear Lake dermatology practice.”

That’s something that makes many of us happy.

Well, the votes are in and the nominee from the Republicans for Harris County District Attorney are is: Lyin’ Patty Lykos. Sucks to be someone that thinks there should be at least a nod towards integrity in politics.

Runoff elections are indeed unique. Very small turnout is the norm. In this case, the vote tally was:

	Total Votes	Percentage
Pat Lykos	21,001	52.65%
Kelly Siegler	18,888	47.35%

That’s a total of 39,889 votes cast in a race that definitely affects the day to day lives of voters in Harris County. Less than 30% of the votes cast in the regular election on March 4th. About 2 1/4% of the total registered voters in Harris County. Roughly 5% of the Republicans.

This tells me that Republicans are good at making noise, not much more.

So the question is, what will Kelly Siegler do? Will she pull a Rusty Hardin and start representing the bad guys? Will she suck it up and work for Lyin’ Patty Lykos or inept Clarence Bradford?

I would not blame her if she chose to leave the District Attorney’s office if Lyin’ Patty were to win the general election, which is far from guaranteed. The outright lies and slander that Lyin’ Patty campaigned on will make it virtually impossible for her to stay and continue to help put the bad guys away.

But Kelly, it can be done. You can work under her if she happens to win in November. She is a politician and politicians do not like to look bad. If you stick it out, you can use her promise of “transparency” to undermine any efforts that she will make to hurt you. The Republicans of Harris County will appreciate it.

Even if they are nothing more than noise makers.

We first saw children involved in the illegal immigration issue when they were used by adults in the May Day protests of 2006. Now, they are upping the ante.

A teenager who went to school with a sign saying “If you love our nation, stop illegal immigration” said she was injured after being swarmed by angry classmates, and administrators said Tuesday that they have suspended three students involved in the scuffle.”It’s disappointing that it happened,” Athens school district Superintendent Fred Hayes said. “It does not surprise me with the political nature of this issue.”

J.R. Bowers said his daughter had a swollen jaw and scratch marks along her neck, face and arms.

Bowers said as many as 20 students surrounded Melanie in the hallway, and Hayes said others might have insulted her.

The poster was ultimately destroyed by other students.

UPDATE: A classic case of things aren’t always as they seem.

Charges are being filed against 13 year old Melanie Bowers by Athens ISD through the Henderson County District Attorney’s office for filing a false report, said AISD officials today.

Bowers’ parents have apologized to school administrators for their daughter, and Bowers’ father, Gary Bower Jr., is agreeing with the charges against her. “I have reviewed the recording and agree with the charges that will need to be filed,” he has said today.

Melanie’s mother, Shera Bowers, released a statement which reads, “I see my daughter was not assaulted, and put the marks on her body. No gang violence as witnessed. She filed a false report.”

A big hat tip to LST member Concerned Parent for following up on this.

Dang Tree Rats

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