Closing Arguments Presented in Desegregation Case

Closing Arguments Presented in Desegregation Case

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Two weeks of testimony have ended, and it’s now up to a federal judge to determine what should be done with Chicago’s 28-year-old school desegregation case.

Civil rights groups argued Friday that CPS should have to spell out how it will admit students to its top-flight schools.

They fear the schools could become predominantly white if the system is released from the desegregation plan.

Harvey Grossman is an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. He said even under the consent decree the district has failed to integrate schools to the extent it should.

GROSSMAN: Northside College Prep has never had more than 6 percent African American students, and there is zero improvement in that figure over the years.

Also at issue is whether the district is adequately serving 52,000 students who don’t speak English proficiently.

The district argued in court that it no longer runs a discriminatory school system.

The judge in the case has not said when he’ll rule.