Melody Haley

[Help A Teacher @HelpATeacher]

Do important!

[DevilDog Diaries🇺🇲 @cjdelgross]

So what does a $3,000,000 payoff buy you?

Just weeks before the 2023 impeachment trial, a pro-Ken Paxton PAC handed Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick $3M in campaign cash and loans.

Coincidentally, Patrick and the Senate rewrote the rules to ensure Paxton walked free.

Here is how the trial was engineered from day one:

The "Wife Math" Trick

* Senator Angela Paxton (Ken’s wife) was banned from voting due to conflict of interest.
* Yet, Patrick's rules forced her to sit in the chamber during the vote anyway.
* By counting her as "present," the 2/3 conviction threshold stayed at 21 votes.
* Her silent seat mathematically functioned as an automatic "No" vote.

The 6-Month Jail Threat

* Patrick slapped an aggressive, unprecedented gag order on the entire Capitol.
* Any senator or witness who spoke out faced up to 6 months in a county jail.
* He even banned live floor debate—senators voted in total, mandated silence.

The Fifth Amendment Shield

* Impeachment is a political process, meaning defendants usually must take the stand.
* Patrick broke precedent and ruled that Paxton could skip testifying entirely.
* This completely shielded the Attorney General from hostile cross-examination.

The Hidden Charges

* The Texas House sent over 20 serious articles of impeachment.
* Senate rules immediately sliced off 4 of the most damaging felony securities fraud charges.
* The moment the rigged trial ended, those 4 remaining charges were quietly erased.

The Bottom Line
When the umpire rewrites the rulebook and banks a multimillion-dollar check from your biggest fans, the game is over before it even starts. The 2023 trial wasn't an execution of justice—it was a masterclass in institutional corruption that paved the exact runway Paxton is using to run for the U.S. Senate today.

[Mike Johnson @MikeJoh14725926]

1. School finance is a mess, created by Gov. Abbott and Dan Patrick. With so many strings attached to funding, how do school districts survive? I think the Governor wants them to fail.
2. Teacher retention - what a joke. They are forcing schools to use scripted lessons and taking over districts. Teachers are fleeing.
3. SpEd is a mess. So many issues. One is that we have to stop allowing one kid with an IEP to ruin the education of an entire class. If the kids' behavior is that bad, he needs to be removed from the class.
I'm glad Gina and James are there. At least there are two people there who are trying to make a difference in education. @GovAbbottPress @DanPatrick

[Chandra Villanueva 🦏 @ChandraKus]

Lots of concern in the House Pub Ed Cmt about how complicated school finance is. However #txlege made it that way. Learn more about how complicated the changes in HB 2 are and how the state is shortchanging our schools in my lasted report: https://t.co/yXba1BnQJE @EveryTxn

[TheRealThelmaJohnson @TheRealThelmaJ1]

This Republican attorney raped a 6 year old boy until he was 9. Ken Paxton got him a sentence of 60 days. He didn't even serve all of that.

[Pastors for Children @pastors4txkids]

The governor of Texas wants to control you.

He's taking you over.

Your schools are no longer "independent."

They are his. They belong to him.

They are no longer ISD's.

They are now GSD's-- "Greg's School Districts"

@GregAbbott_TX is bad for Texas kids.

#2026elections

[Pastors for Children @pastors4txkids]

We love the uplifting, positive spirit tonight of FW Fort about the @FortWorthISD takeover.

The anger & passion in this room is directed to one person & one person only:

@GregAbbott_TX

He is responsible for this.

Call him! [phone]

#2026elections #txlege

[Brad Weinstein @WeinsteinEdu]

Thank you, teachers. 🧡

[Mike Johnson @MikeJoh14725926]

This is 100% true. @GovAbbottPress is pretending that he got rid of the STAAR, but he actually increased it from 2 STAAR tests to 6 for 3rd graders.
He also said it needs to be replaced and then used the results to say that schools are failing and took over local ISDs.
He is not an honest man. We need a new Governor. I say vote for Gina!

[AgKnocks @AgKnocks]

No allegations. No scandals. No drama.

Just a life-changing head ball coach

[Ann Johnson @VoteAnnJohnson]

An out-of-state school just got approved for Texas vouchers.

We knew this would happen — and Republicans voted down my amendment to prevent it. 

Texas taxpayer dollars should go to Texas schools.

[Pastors for Children @pastors4txkids]

Public schools are the most local communities of democratic engagement and leadership.

That’s why oligarchical billionaires want them gone.

Why would they want us making citizens to hold them accountable?

Why would they want us making capitalists to compete with them?

[Pastors for Children @pastors4txkids]

Defunding.

Privatizing.

Shaming.

Over-testing.

Destroying.

Welcome to the @GregAbbott_TX education agenda.

You can change this in #2026elections.

#txlege #txed

[Tim England @tengland_150]

BOW TO THE HORSE SCHOOL 🏆

[Devin Duke @sirDukeDevin]

Who else agrees? ✋

[Mike Johnson @MikeJoh14725926]

I find it interesting that Mike Morath and TEA say that schools that have failing test scores for a number of years in a row mean the districts are neglecting the schools, and justify the takeover. However, we have years of STAAR test data showing that the scores have been low every year since its inception. Doesn't that mean that Mike Morath and the TEA leaders need to hold themselves accountable? Their neglect is on a larger scale. Why do they still have jobs? We need a TEA takeover and improvement plan.
@MikeMorath @teainfo

[Help A Teacher @HelpATeacher]

Shout out!
📷 Cool Cat Teacher

[Pastors for Children @pastors4txkids]

One of the weirdest, cruelest decisions of the @GOP is their attempt to end public education and replace it with a private school subsidy program called vouchers.

Lying to themselves & all of us all the way.

#txed #txlege @joshcowenMI @gina__hinojosa @JoshWallenstein @TexasAFT

[𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐬 🎸🏴‍☠️🧩🤖🚀 @Principal_H]

Great teachers have high expectations for their students, but higher expectations for themselves.