BG Reads | News You Need to Know (April 3, 2023)
[AUSTIN METRO]
State education board plans conservatorship of Austin ISD over special education concerns (Community Impact)
On March 31, the Texas Education Agency informed Austin ISD it would seek to implement a conservatorship due to Austin ISD's backlog of special education evaluations and failure to complete past TEA corrective measures.
In 2021, the TEA began investigating Austin ISD over complaints that the district failed to comply with state timelines for providing special education evaluations for students. The state found 40 violations since the 2020-21 school year, according to the final report.
In 2021, the TEA began investigating Austin ISD over complaints that the district failed to comply with state timelines for providing special education evaluations for students. The state found 40 violations since the 2020-21 school year, according to the final report… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin ISD calls special meeting to discuss TEA conservatorshiP (FOX 7)
The Austin ISD Board of Trustees has called a special meeting to discuss the Texas Education Agency's plans to put the district under state conservatorship.
The special meeting will begin at 6:45 p.m., Monday, April 3. The community may sign up to submit recorded comments between 7:45 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday.
The TEA said Friday that it plans to move to appoint a conservator to oversee AISD, citing the district’s failings in serving students receiving special education.
According to the district, under a conservatorship, a team selected by TEA Commissioner Mike Morath would work closely with AISD's Special Education team to "ensure we’re meeting the needs of our students who are referred to be evaluated for disabilities or who receive special education services." It is estimated the conservators could be in place by late summer… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
A deal with the adversary: Austin mayor taps GOP relationships in public safety strategy (Austin American-Statesman)
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson pitched himself to voters as a dealmaker, and, true to his word, he made a big one last week to increase law enforcement patrols in the city.
To address rising officer vacancies in the Austin Police Department, Watson unveiled a staffing plan that calls for assistance from Texas Department of Public Safety troopers. The cost of the stopgap solution will be footed entirely by the state.
But perhaps as significant as the agreement itself are those with whom Watson made it: Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. The collaboration began to take shape March 24 in a phone call between Watson and Patrick, whose relationship goes back to at least 2007, when they entered the Texas Senate — Watson as a Democrat, Patrick as a Republican. According to several people briefed on the conversation, it focused on public safety in Austin after a series of high-profile incidents that raised concerns from Republican state lawmakers.
The conversations continued into March 25, and, at some point, Patrick — who headed to Waco that day to speak at former President Donald Trump's first campaign rally of the 2024 election cycle — offered assistance from DPS. Before long, Watson looped in interim City Manager Jesús Garza and Police Chief Joe Chacon, whose department is short about 300 officers. Eventually, Abbott was brought into the discussion and signaled his support for the city-state partnership… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Central Health demographic report finds ‘no escape’ from regional cost-of-living crisis (Austin monitor)
Austin’s cost-of-living crisis has spread into a regional issue impacting Travis and surrounding counties, according to Central Health’s 2022 Demographic Report.The report, key findings of which Central Health staff discussed in a community conservation last week, found that Austin remains a key access point for health care, affordable housing, public transportation, and social services while areas outside of the city limits that were once affordable are no longer.
“There’s no longer an escape, really, regionally from this expensive burden of cost of living and housing,” said JP Eichmiller, Central Health’s senior director of strategy and information design. “You can’t go to Williamson County, or Bastrop, or Hays to escape it.”
Central Health uses the report to guide its Health Care Equity Plan. Due to the pandemic, the last study was released in the fall of 2020. The report looks at the prevalence of nine chronic conditions among Central Health’s patient populations. These conditions were chosen because they are some of the most common and also preventable health conditions in Travis County… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Civil rights organizations file federal complaint against Texas’ takeover of Houston ISD (Texas Tribune)
Civil rights organizations have filed a federal complaint on behalf of several parents against the Texas Education Agency because of its plan to replace the Houston Independent School District’s democratically elected school board, claiming the move takes away the rights of Houston voters of color to choose their own school officials.
The complaint was filed with the U.S. Department of Justice Friday morning, with a claim by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the Houston NAACP, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Greater Houston Coalition for Justice that the state’s takeover violates the Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution.
“The state takeover is not about public education but about political control of an almost entirely Black and brown student body in one of the country’s most diverse cities,” Ashley Harris, an attorney at the ACLU of Texas, said in a news release announcing the complaint… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
With more electric vehicles expected in Texas, two bills pave the road for fast-charging stations statewide (Texas Tribune)
Traveling across the vast state in an all-electric vehicle still lacks the convenience of refueling a gas-powered vehicle. There are just 329 fast-charging stations across the state’s 270,000 square miles, leaving travelers with limited options as they plan their routes.
It’s something of a chicken-or-the-egg problem: Companies need enough customers to justify building charging stations, but drivers want a sufficient number of charging stations before buying an electric car.
Two pieces of proposed state legislation would provide what supporters say is a needed foundation for companies to put in more fast-charging stations to meet the expected demand. Senate Bill 1002 creates guidelines for how electric vehicle charging stations would be paid for and built. And Senate Bill 1001 establishes how they would be registered and inspected… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
GOP divided over how to handle Trump indictment (The HiLL)
The unprecedented indictment of former President Trump creates a political puzzle and problem for Republican leaders in Washington who are divided over how to respond to it and have differing views about what it means for the future of their party.
Some Republicans, such as Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), are lambasting the indictment as an “abuse of power” and a “weaponization” of the justice system, predicting it will fuel public support for Trump in 2024… (LINK TO FULL STORY)