Little Rock Split as Historic Date Nears

Students finish up a day last week at Little Rock Central High School, the scene of racial clashes over desegregation 50 years ago

—Wesley Hitt for Education Week

50 years later, residents say integration fight still felt in ongoing struggles over leadership, direction of public schools.

By Christina A. Samuels

Little Rock, Ark.

Fifty years ago this month, nine black students walked through the doors of Little Rock Central High School, guarded by U.S. Army and National Guard troops dispatched to protect them from angry white residents protesting integration.

Now, Arkansas is inviting the world to turn its eyes to Little Rock—this time, to see how far the city has come since those turbulent days.

But while the commemorative activities go on, the school district itself is at the center of racial and power struggles. Roy G. Brooks, the black superintendent who riled the teachers’ union and earned the enmity of the black school board majority, was fired last month after months of controversy, with a $635,000 buyout cushioning his fall. Part of Mr. Brooks’ problem, say those who approved his ouster, was that he was abrasive toward members of the black community, and fired a number...