Sunday, January 27, 2008

Jefferson County ready to unveil school assignment plans

Final decision expected by mid-May

Civil-rights leaders want to make sure schools stay racially integrated. Parents want to keep school choice. And students want to stay where they are.

The stakes will be high tomorrow when officials with Jefferson County Public Schools make public their highly anticipated student-assignment proposals in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling rejecting the district's desegregation policy.

"This is something that's going to impact the entire community," said Raoul Cunningham, president of the Louisville NAACP. "We are being watched across the nation."

Among those watching are school districts that want to see how Jefferson County, which has been nationally recognized for its integration efforts, will move forward after the Supreme Court said it can no longer assign individual students to schools based on their race.

Determined to avoid resegregation, Jefferson County officials have spent months weighing options such as neighborhood schools, income- and geography-based assignments, open enrollment and other plans...

...But whatever proposal is chosen will signal a historic shift in how school diversity is defined and achieved -- and usher in a new chapter in Louisville's long struggle with race and education...

This from the Courier-Journal.

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