The U.S. Department of Education has reached an agreement with Lee County schools to make sure African-American students have equal access to advanced courses.
The department announced Tuesday that the agreement with the east Alabama school system is the first of its kind in Alabama. It comes after the department found that advanced math was offered in the seventh grade at the county's predominantly white middle schools but was not offered at the predominantly African-American middle school.
The agreement calls for the Lee County schools to develop a plan to address the underrepresentation of African-American students in Advanced Placement courses and other high-level courses. The school system must also identify barriers to African-American students participating in the courses.