WaPo: “Texas has excluded about two dozen Islamic schools from its new $1 billion voucher program for allegedly being linked to terrorist groups, a decision that has led to a lawsuit and claims of discrimination from the Muslim community.
The state’s comptroller, who oversees the program, barred schools that he said have hosted events organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, a national Muslim civil rights group. The decision came after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) declared CAIR a terrorist organization in November.
CAIR has consistently denied allegations that it is a terrorist group or affiliated with such organizations. While the group has coordinated programs, including civil rights education, for some Islamic schools in Texas, CAIR has never worked with several of the schools that were banned, said Shaimaa Zayan, the operations manager for CAIR-Austin.”