On November 15, the Arkansas Legislative Council voted in favor of recommending the proposed settlement of the Pulaski County Desegregation Case presented by Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel. 

Click here to read the proposed settlement. A hearing is scheduled before a federal judge on December 9th.  All parties have now agreed to settle the case.

McDaniel told members of the Council that the state has paid more than $1 billion to the Pulaski County Special School District, North Little Rock School District, and the Little Rock School District since it entered an agreement was reached in 1989.   

This desegregation case, currently before the court, was originally filed on November 30, 1982 when the Little Rock School District (LRSD) sued North Little Rock School District (NLRSD), Pulaski County Special School District (PCSSD), and the State to obtain a remedy for the effects of their segregation practices on LRSD.

The Joshua Intervenors soon entered into litigation to protect the interest of local minority students. Under a comprehensive series of settlement agreements reached in 1988 and 1989 and adopted as consent decrees, NLRSD and PCSSD each agreed to implement detailed plans to remedy segregation violations within their districts, while the State agreed to provide funding for an interdistrict remedy among the three districts, including the creation of magnet schools and majority-to-minority transfers. Over the years, each district has obtained partial release from court supervision in some of the problem areas addressed by their intradistrict plans.