Little Rock Desegregation Plans Go Back to Court

‘You guys need to start thinking about … how you’re going to survive without ‘deseg’ money.'”

More than a half-century after federal troops escorted nine black students into an all-white school, efforts to desegregate Little Rock’s classrooms are at another turning point.

The state wants to end its long-running payments for desegregation programs, but three school districts that receive the money say they need it to continue key programs. And a federal judge has accused the schools of delaying desegregation so they can keep receiving an annual infusion of $70 million.snip

Some Little Rock schools remain as segregated as the neighborhoods around them. And achieving racial balance is becoming more difficult as families leave the suburbs that supply white students to schools in majority-black city neighborhoods. Despite years of efforts, black students still score much lower on tests than white students.

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2011-09-18