Judge OKs pact ending Ark. desegregation payments
Source: Associated Press
Judge OKs pact ending Ark. desegregation payments
By KELLY P. KISSEL, Associated Press | January 13, 2014 | Updated: January 13, 2014 10:45pm
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) A federal judge said Monday that Arkansas can stop making payments in one of the nation's most historic desegregation efforts but cautioned that work remains to ensure Little Rock-area students receive a proper education.
The state has made more than $1 billion in payments to three Little Rock-area school districts since 1989 to aid desegregation efforts. Under the deal approved by U.S. District Judge Price Marshall on Monday, those payments will end in four years, even though one of the districts still hasn't been declared desegregated.
"I think this is a day we can write in the book and draw a circle around and remember that we did something important," Marshall said. He said his objective was to ensure the agreement among lawyers for the state, the districts and black schoolchildren was fair, reasonable and adequate.
"There comes a time ... where things should stop and things should go in the book," Marshall said. "This is a fair and appropriate place to have a stop."
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Judge-OKs-pact-ending-Ark-desegregation-payments-5137250.php