Tony Snow Wants Protesters Punished
Reported by Deborah - April 6, 2006
Tony Snow wanted to know how the students who skipped school in Houston to protest and the faculty members who supported them were going to be punished. Terry Abbott, spokesman for the Houston School District, assured Snow that there would be consequences for everyone who dared to get involved.4/06/06
Snow was aghast that Rudy Rios ,teacher and coach at a Houston High School, distributed a flyer urging the kids to get involved in the protests. The flyer, written in contemporary language, used "ain't and number 2 instead of to." This is a teacher?" he wailed, "An educator?" When he discovered that Rios would remain a teacher but would lose his coaching job and stipend, Snow was annoyed. " I'd kick him off period." Abbott explained that he hadn't done anything that would warrant firing him but claimed that he made a "poor decision." Snow acting shocked wanted to know if Rios was going to make a public apology? He then wanted to know if the Teacher's Union would pressure them if they came down too hard on the teachers?
Then he asked Abbott, " What are you going to do with the kids who left?" Abbott claimed that they all would be suspended and then gave some vague description of some other punishments. He seem apologetic that there wouldn't be more done to the kids and certainly did not defend their involvement. He added later in the segment that there are 280,000 kids in the district and only 1400 demonstrated.
Snow then steered the discussion to a Principal who decided to add the Mexican Flag on the flagpole with the American and Texas Flags as a peacemaking and supportive gesture. Snow acted like this was an outrageous thing to do and seemed to want Abbott to condemn him in some way.
comment: Snow behaved as if the students had no reason to be threatened and angry and their urgent need to take a stand shouldn't be considered. It was like Snow was talking about some crazy teens who got carried away on spring break and needed to be grounded when they wandered home. Let's put them in their place and get back to normal was the message expressed.
