In a letter to parents titled "BISD Welcomes OCR", Bastrop Independent School District Superintendent Steve Murray says his school district welcomes an investigation from the United States Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR). The investigation is over allegations that Bastrop ISD has practiced "class-wide discrimination" against African-American and Hispanic employees and students. The complaint claims the discrimination was evident in "terminations, demotions, hiring, promotions and working conditions." Murray's letter says the complaint also points to several specific incidents. While his letter did not elaborate on what those incidents were, Murray did say Bastrop ISD has already...
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Capitol watchers predicted that this year’s Texas legislative session would be rife with talk about K-12 education. That’s turning out to be the case. The talk was expected to revolve around restoring funds cut in 2011, but right now it’s about high school curricula. Emily Donahue of KUT News spoke with Kate Alexander, who covers the Legislature for the Austin American-Statesman. She reported this week on a number of bills filed seeking to loosen high school graduation requirements and the reaction. A coalition of industry groups behind the bipartisan push includes the Texas Chemical Council, the Texas Association of Manufacturers, the National Federation of Independent Business and the Texas Oil and Gas Association....
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