Deal Announced to Desegregate Hartford Schools

By Jeff Archer

For the first time in 14 years of litigation, the two sides in Connecticut's closely watched school desegregation case have agreed on a plan to achieve greater racial and ethnic integration in the schools in and around Hartford.

The agreement announced last week by Gov. John G. Rowland and the plaintiffs in the case, known as Sheff v. O'Neill , calls for a four-year, $45 million expansion of the state's school integration efforts. Most of the money would pay for voluntary programs that offer students the chance to attend schools outside their local communities.

The accord marks a major breakthrough in a battle that has shaped the course of recent education policy in Connecticut. The case also has stood out nationally as a bold attempt to use the courts to integrate schools long after most...