KC DESEG AGREEMENT ANNOUNCED

An end to state-funded desegregation in the Kansas City public schools system would be three years and $314 million away under a plan unveiled Wednesday by state and school district officials.

Gov. Mel Carnahan and Attorney General Jay Nixon were on hand at a news conference in Kansas City to announce a three-year payment plan that will end state-funded desegregation payments to the school system.

State Rep. Mary Kasten, R-Cape Girardeau, was cautiously optimistic about the announcement. Although the General Assembly set aside $110.3 million this year for the Kansas City desegregation program so the school district could be weaned from state funding, Kasten said three years of payments totalling $314 million isn't what she had in mind.

"I'm terribly impatient that Missouri will be funding the Kansas City program at the detriment of other school districts," said Kasten. "I'm so worn out with the subject of money to Kansas City with no results."

Kasten said she isn't confident Missouri will stop funding Kansas City's desegregation program in three years despite the agreement.

A federal judge must approve the agreement.

"If we ever see an end, the sooner the better," said Kasten. "It always goes on and on and on, but I hope it will happen this time. But you can never be sure."

Nixon said the agreement avoids further litigation that would "almost certainly extend beyond three years. This is the first time the school district has agreed to end the payments.

"The state's goal has always been to get to zero payments in the fastest manner possible," Nixon said, "whether it be through litigation or settlement."

Despite the end to state-funded desegregation in Kansas City, Carnahan said the state stands ready to "work with the community to produce quality education for the children."

The agreement also requires the school board to support the state's request for a release from the desegregation case that state officials expect.

For 1996-1997, Missouri will fund the Kansas City desegregation program with the $110 million set aside by the General Assembly. For the fiscal year beginning June 1, 1997, $105 million will be sent to Kansas City, and $99 million will go to the program in 1998-1999.

The state has funded the desegregation plan since 1986 in an effort to improve the district with new magnet schools; higher, teacher salaries and replacement of outdated buildings. By the end of the plan announced Wednesday, state taxpayers will have funded $2 billion of the program.

The beginning of the end of state funding for school desegregation came after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that U.S. District Judge Russell G. Clark, who formulated the Kansas City plan, had exceeded his authority in some areas.

The issue started in May 1977, when a group of parents sued the school district and suburban districts. It finally went to trial six years later before Clark, who excluded the suburban districts from the lawsuit. In September 1984, Clark ruled that the school district and the state were jointly responsible for illegal segregation in the inner-city district.

The magnet plan attracted whites to the district, which has a 78 percent minority enrollment, but the numbers were small. In September 1994, there were 1,476 suburban whites attending schools in Kansas City, but that number was cut in half after the Supreme Court ruling led to the elimination of transportation for the suburban students last summer.

Some information for this story was contributed by The Associated Press.