K.C. schools seek end of court-ordered desegregation plan

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City School District has asked a federal judge to end a 26-year-old court-ordered desegregation case that has cost more than $2 billion.

In a motion filed Thursday, the district said it has reduced the achievement gap between black and white students.

"We've done what we're supposed to do," superintendent Bernard Taylor Jr. said during a press conference Thursday.

"We're confident that we can move forward. We've met the goal, and now we need to have more control over our destiny."

The motion asks U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple to end court supervision of student achievement in the district and dismiss the desegregation case.

Student achievement was the last portion of the desegregation plan the court was monitoring. Whipple last year ended federal oversight in the areas of racial balance, facilities, budget and transportation.

The district has requested a hearing in April.

Arthur Benson, the attorney for the plaintiff schoolchildren in the case, said in a statement that he would examine closely the district's claim that the black-white achievement gap had been closed.

The district said the gap between white and black students on the math portion of the state test shrunk by 29 percent between 1998 and 2002.

But Benson said the district in 2001 abandoned a similar claim that it closed the gap after a close analysis of district data showed the gap had not closed.

"If the data establishes the academic gains the Kansas City, Mo., School District today presents, it will be the final monumental victory in this nationally important desegregation litigation, following other important victories," Benson said.

The filing of the desegregation lawsuit in 1977 led to the renovation and replacement of aging buildings and the racial integration of city schools, Benson said. But he stressed much still needed to be accomplished.

"The academic threshold for ending the desegregation litigation is relatively low," he said. "If it has been achieved, it is but a beginning for this school district. Much remains to be done. And it will take the entire community to make it happen."

The district began developing plans to address lingering segregation in the district following a 1984 court ruling in which a federal judge found the Kansas City School District and the state of Missouri liable for illegal segregation. The state agreed in 1996 to pay the district $320 million as part of the settlement.

In the years following the 1984 ruling, the district hired librarians and counselors, built and upgraded schools and added magnet schools. Besides the school district's contribution, the state also chipped in hundreds of millions of dollars to the desegregation efforts.

School board President Al Mauro said the court-ordered desegregation plan once served an important function.

"We needed a kick in the pants at times to change direction and that has been done," Mauro said. "I think this board and this administration and this community are prepared to continue the things that were put in place to ensure two things. One is equality of education for all of our young people and secondly, a high standard of education."

The district stressed that it has no plans to dismantle major pieces of the desegregation plan if the motion is granted.

"The opportunity quite frankly for educators to make educational decisions without necessarily having it vetted by lawyers, that's an exciting possibility," Taylor said. "No disrespect intended. But it will be nice to be able to have conversations where we aren't always looking at this from a legal aspect."

MAJOR EVENTS IN THE K.C. SCHOOL DISTRICT

n May 1977 -- The Kansas City School District and a group of parents begin a federal court battle with the state over the desegregation of Kansas City schools. The district is eventually named a defendant in the case, leaving only the schoolchildren as plaintiffs.

September 1984 -- U.S. District Judge Russell G. Clark rules that the Kansas City School District and the state of Missouri are liable for illegal segregation.

April 1996 -- Attorney General Jay Nixon files a court motion seeking a declaration that the state has met its obligation to desegregate Kansas City schools. As part of a settlement, the state agreed to pay the district $320 million.

January 1999 -- The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education conducts a review of the Kansas City School District, determining it meets none of 11 academic performance standards.

October 1999 -- State Board of Education strips accreditation of the Kansas City district.

January 2002 -- State education officials conduct a follow-up review of the Kansas City district, determining the district meets four of the 11 standards.