News in Brief: A National Roundup

The Kansas City, Mo., school system has done what it can to eliminate segregation and provide black students with equal educational opportunities, a federal court ruled last week.

The ruling, handed down Nov. 17 by U.S. District Judge Dean Whipple, ends one of the nation's most expensive and closely watched school desegregation lawsuits. The case began in 1977, when a group of parents sued to force improvements in largely black, inner-city schools, and led to court-ordered spending of some $2 billion to upgrade the system's facilities and academic offerings.

Benjamin Demps Jr., the superintendent of the 37,000-student district, cheered last week's ruling, saying it brought with it "tremendous opportunity and great responsibility'' for the district.Though Judge Whipple's ruling freed the district from federal oversight, it upheld the state board of education's action last month to revoke the accreditation of the Kansas City schools as of next May. ( K.C. Wants Court To Block Deaccreditation, ...