Dive Brief:
- U.S. District Judge D.P. Marshall Jr. put a cap on a central part of an Arkansas desegregation lawsuit inspired by the Little Rock Central High School crisis of 1957.
- Starting in 2018, the state will no longer need to make payments to three Little Rock-area districts in order to encourage integration. The state has given the districts over $1 billion since payments began in 1989.
- While the judge has determined inequalities no longer persist, not everyone is buying it. John Walker, a state representative who has also represented black students in cases before, argues the 25,000-student Little Rock School District is still very much segregated.
Dive Insight:
Walker points to the numbers: While the Little Rock school district is 67% black, the city's population is 49% white. These details would indicate that many white students are still electing not to attend the district schools.
"It's institutional. It seems to be reinforced by the current superintendent and the current board," Walker told the Associated Press.
Little Rock is a school district where race has always been at the forefront. In 1957, nine black students, nicknamed the "Little Rock 9," needed the support of Federal Troops in order to enter Little Rock Central — death threats and protests were too rampant. In 1982, the district was still incredibly segregated, leading to a lawsuit that claimed state policies were resulting in a lack of diversity. The 1989 court decision mandated that Arkansas give the three Little Rock districts additional funds for magnet schools, transportation, and programs that could inspire integration. Still, Walker argues that the schools haven't changed much.