Fade the Butcher
03-30-2006, 11:16 PM
This time it happened in Texas.
Statesman (http://www.statesman.com/news/content/gen/ap/TX_Immigration_School_Walkout.html)
HOUSTON — Dozens of Houston students were arrested or cited Thursday and a principal was disciplined for flying a Mexican flag in front of his school as protests continued across Texas over immigration legislation in Congress.
Robert Pambello, principal of Reagan High School where 88 percent of the students are Hispanic, was disciplined after hoisting the Mexican flag below the American and Texas flags that usually fly in front of his school. District officials instructed him to lower the Mexican flag a few hours later and he complied.
"He's a good educator who's done good things at that school," Houston school district spokesman Terry Abbott said. "In this case he's made a mistake in judgment and he's been appropriately disciplined for it. It's appropriate for only the U.S. and Texas flags to fly in front of schools."
Abbott said he could not further discuss Pambello's punishment because it was a personnel matter.
The students who were arrested were among thousands in Texas and across the country who left class this week to rally in support of immigrants.
They were arrested after about 150 students from Houston's Madison High School and Dowling Middle School left class and refused to get on buses to return, Houston police Lt. Robert Manzo said.
Police arrested 26 students there, and five ran away and were later found in a supermarket parking lot. All were charged with violating the city's curfew ordinance. One 19-year-old student was arrested for hindering traffic, Manzo said.
Underage students were taken to the police department's juvenile division, where their parents would be called to pick them up, he said.
Houston school district police issued curfew violation citations to 67 other students. The violation is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $200. More than 1,200 students are facing up to three days suspension or removal to an alternative school, Abbott said.
One 15-year-old girl was taken to Ben Taub Hospital after complaining of not feeling well because she had not taken her medication. Her condition was not immediately known, Manzo said.
Houston Superintendent Abe Saavedra told a news conference students should not express their opinions about immigration issues during school hours. Instead, he said, they should follow the example of 500 students at Lamar High School who held a rally before classes began Thursday.
"What we wanted to do was be smart about it and share our knowledge," said Zelene Pineda, 17, a junior at Lamar who helped organize the rally. "We are capable of organizing, being effective and working within the school system."
Abbott said officials at Sharpstown High School on Friday planned to bring in speakers to a rally after classes at a school park to allow students to express themselves without walking out.
In Austin, hundreds of students walked out of classrooms. One group of at least 50 stood in front of the state Capitol, some of them waving Mexican flags.
"We're not criminals. We're here to basically work," said Ingrid Flores, 18, a senior at LBJ High School in Austin.
Near El Paso, between 100 to 250 students walked out of Canutillo High School, while about 60 students walked out of R.L. Turner High School in Carrollton, near Dallas.
But in San Antonio, a city with a nearly 60 percent Hispanic population, protests from students and others have been relatively quiet this week.
"It's not that people don't care here. It's just that it hasn't hit them like in other areas," Lourdes Rodriguez, director of the San Antonio office of the League of United Latin American Citizens, told the San Antonio Express-News.
Statesman (http://www.statesman.com/news/content/gen/ap/TX_Immigration_School_Walkout.html)
HOUSTON — Dozens of Houston students were arrested or cited Thursday and a principal was disciplined for flying a Mexican flag in front of his school as protests continued across Texas over immigration legislation in Congress.
Robert Pambello, principal of Reagan High School where 88 percent of the students are Hispanic, was disciplined after hoisting the Mexican flag below the American and Texas flags that usually fly in front of his school. District officials instructed him to lower the Mexican flag a few hours later and he complied.
"He's a good educator who's done good things at that school," Houston school district spokesman Terry Abbott said. "In this case he's made a mistake in judgment and he's been appropriately disciplined for it. It's appropriate for only the U.S. and Texas flags to fly in front of schools."
Abbott said he could not further discuss Pambello's punishment because it was a personnel matter.
The students who were arrested were among thousands in Texas and across the country who left class this week to rally in support of immigrants.
They were arrested after about 150 students from Houston's Madison High School and Dowling Middle School left class and refused to get on buses to return, Houston police Lt. Robert Manzo said.
Police arrested 26 students there, and five ran away and were later found in a supermarket parking lot. All were charged with violating the city's curfew ordinance. One 19-year-old student was arrested for hindering traffic, Manzo said.
Underage students were taken to the police department's juvenile division, where their parents would be called to pick them up, he said.
Houston school district police issued curfew violation citations to 67 other students. The violation is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $200. More than 1,200 students are facing up to three days suspension or removal to an alternative school, Abbott said.
One 15-year-old girl was taken to Ben Taub Hospital after complaining of not feeling well because she had not taken her medication. Her condition was not immediately known, Manzo said.
Houston Superintendent Abe Saavedra told a news conference students should not express their opinions about immigration issues during school hours. Instead, he said, they should follow the example of 500 students at Lamar High School who held a rally before classes began Thursday.
"What we wanted to do was be smart about it and share our knowledge," said Zelene Pineda, 17, a junior at Lamar who helped organize the rally. "We are capable of organizing, being effective and working within the school system."
Abbott said officials at Sharpstown High School on Friday planned to bring in speakers to a rally after classes at a school park to allow students to express themselves without walking out.
In Austin, hundreds of students walked out of classrooms. One group of at least 50 stood in front of the state Capitol, some of them waving Mexican flags.
"We're not criminals. We're here to basically work," said Ingrid Flores, 18, a senior at LBJ High School in Austin.
Near El Paso, between 100 to 250 students walked out of Canutillo High School, while about 60 students walked out of R.L. Turner High School in Carrollton, near Dallas.
But in San Antonio, a city with a nearly 60 percent Hispanic population, protests from students and others have been relatively quiet this week.
"It's not that people don't care here. It's just that it hasn't hit them like in other areas," Lourdes Rodriguez, director of the San Antonio office of the League of United Latin American Citizens, told the San Antonio Express-News.