Back in Court, Sheff Plaintiffs Say Conn. Integration Lacking

By Jeff Archer

Nearly six years after Connecticut's landmark desegregation order, the group that initiated the lawsuit that led to the ruling is asking the courts to step in again—this time with a plan of its own that proposes how state leaders should carry out the mandate.

The pitch for greater judicial involvement comes as a state superior court judge must decide whether Connecticut's integration efforts have been adequate, or if more needs to be done to reduce the racial and ethnic isolation that persists among the schools in the Hartford region.

Prompted by the plaintiffs' charges that the state has been dragging its feet, hearings on the case known as Sheff v. O'Neill have been held during the past two weeks in...