Believing that their desegregation plans met court-ordered guidelines, three Arkansas school districts (Little Rock, North Little Rock, and Pulaski County) found that U.S. District Judge Woods had scrapped these plans and appointed a New York desegregation expert (Eugene Reville) in charge of the three districts. Sidebars discuss salary and court…

In August 1986, the U.S. District Court ordered three Pulaski County (Arkansas) school systems to develop an interdistrict magnet school program (with a review committee) as part of their desegregation plan. The districts are progressing steadily toward their racial balance goals. A sidebar provides tips for designing a successful magnet school…

Describes lifelong commitment of middle-school principal and major W.J. Jones to Coahoma, a small town in Mississippi Delta. Thanks to his efforts, town recently acquired a sewage system, blacktopped roads, and new housing (through Habitat for Humanity and World Vision). Although town elementary school fell victim to consolidation and children are…

After two decades of court supervision, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that the DeKalb County (Georgia) Schools were largely desegregated. In this article, the district superintendent describes the debilitating effects of court-supervised desegregation on himself and the school district. True integration cannot be achieved involuntarily. A…

Every year more school leaders are forced to deal with tragic, violence-prone situations. At a Prince George's County (Maryland) high school, 17-year-old Chuckie Marsh's shooting by masked intruders led to Principal William C. Short's immediate transfer. Assigned to a rough, desegregating magnet school, Short failed to live up to parents'…