Islamic Schools Admitted to Voucher Program After Suit

Four Islamic schools have been admitted to the Texas voucher program after a federal judge ordered the state to invite the schools to apply, the Houston Chronicle reported.

The judge also ordered the application deadline for families be extended to March 31, citing concerns that no Islamic schools had been approved for the program.

“We received an invitation to register yesterday from Odyssey.We were able to register, and we got approval immediately upon finishing the registration form,” Hamed Ghazali, principal of the Houston QuranAcademy, said. “In addition, our school appeared on the parents’ portal and some of our parents were able to register, choosing our school.”

The voucher program gives as much as $10,400 for tuition reimbursement and other fees to parents who send their children to private school next year, up to $30,000 for parents of children with disabilities, and up to $2,000 for homeschooled children.

Texas Senate Runoff Ballot Deadline Passes The deadline for Republican candidates to withdraw from the May runoff ballot has passed, and both U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton remain in the race, The Texas Tribune reported. Soon after the primary President Donald Trump promised to endorse one of the candidates “soon,” but has yet to do so.

Cornyn, who held a narrow lead in the primary but not a majority, recently wrote an oped piece reversing course on his opposition to ending the filibuster, which requires 60 votes for Senate approval of legislation. The Senate last week started floor discussion of the SAVE America Act, a bill Trump claims would “guarantee the midterms” for Republicans. Both Cornyn and Paxton now back the bill, which restricts voting access.

There is little chance of the bill passing the Senate because of the filibuster, since all 47 Senate Democrats oppose it, calling it a modern-day poll tax. There also does not appear to be enough support for ending the filibuster, which would allow the bill to pass with a simple majority. Whoever wins the GOP Senate runoff will face state Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic nominee, in November.

Chávez Observance Scrapped After Abuse Accusations 

Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state agencies to no longer observe César Chávez Day and said he plans to ask lawmakers to remove the holiday from state law, The Dallas Morning News reported. The move came after The New York Times reported Chavez, the co-founder of the United Farm Workers union, groomed and sexually abused girls and women who worked in the movement.

In addition, many Texas cities and school districts are considering renaming streets and schools and removing monuments to the famed labor leader.

“Let me be clear – no political affiliation, legacy or historic contribution should ever shield sexual predators from scrutiny or excuse the harm inflicted on survivors,” Dallas City Council member Bazaldua said in a Facebook post.

The co-founder of the UFW, Dolores Huerta, now 96, said Chavez forced her to have sex and raped her at one point. Huerta said that she kept silent to protect the farmworker movement.