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A ground-breaking agreement in the long-running school desegregation suit Sheff vs. O’Neill cleared a key committee April 22, meaning it should reach the floor for approval before early-May adjournment. It will be presented to a judge and be formalized as a consent decree in any case, however, unless the General Assembly rejects the agreement by a 60% to 40% vote. Under state law, the agreement would be deemed approved if the Legislature adjourned without taking action, but that is considered unlikely. The agreement lays out a sweeping series of changes to put more Hartford minority students into suburban classrooms or integrated magnet school classrooms, including for the first time magnet schools sponsored by suburban towns. The goal of the agreement is to assure that within five years 80% of Hartford students seeking placement in integrated schools will be so placed, and that not fewer than 41% of all Hartford students will be so placed. The plaintiffs — a group of students at the time the suit was filed but now adults, led by Milo Sheff, represented by the ACLU and others — will have options for redress if the goals are not met. The General Assembly’s Education Committee held a hearing April 15. Committee approval, sending the proposal to the floor for action, remains unclear. ACLU members urged to call on their legislators to vote to approve the agreement. Read details: “Draft Sheff agreement Apr 4” Read a concise overview of the agreement: “Sheff v. O’Neill Phase II” Read a news account of the hearing Read a news account of the committee's action
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