Could perception of HISD's merit-based bonus program get any worse? Yes, of course: Today, most of the district's principals will be getting bonuses, with Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra taking home a whopping $67,000 in extra pay. As you might imagine, the news isn't sitting well with teachers and staff members who already feel slighted by the bonus scheme.

At least 250 principals — that's 83 percent of the principals in HISD, according to the Chronicle — will take home a minimum of $1.2 million in bonuses today, with the average bonus totaling $4,800. Compare that with the fact that 58 percent of teachers earned performance bonuses earlier this year, with the average bonus being $1,850, and you'll see why some people aren't pleased. "That sounds like a tremendously high percentage (of principals) that qualified for something off the backs of the teachers," Houston Federation of Teachers head Gayle Fallon, a critic of the way the bonus program has been administered, said. On the other side of the issue is Ray Reiner, president of the Houston Association of School Administrators, who said principals are hard workers: "If they didn't all get the bonus, then those who didn't receive it will be unhappy because they all work very, very hard. They put in a lot of hours," Reiner said.

Adding fuel to the potential fire is that fact that Saavedra is getting a $67,250 bonus — that's 22 percent of his base salary of $302,000 and more than nearly all HISD teachers earn each year. Saavedra is eligible for $80,000 in bonuses based in part on students' test scores under a new contract the school board approved in January. Manuel Rodriguez Jr., the school board president, said Saavedra deserves the bonus as head of a district that employs 30,000 people and has a $1.4 billion budget; Fallon said the hefty bonus "is not going to be a morale builder."

In all, the district has paid about $16.6 millionin bonuses this year to teachers, staff members and administrators.