LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - The Arkansas Board of Education is requiring four school districts to participate in interdistrict student transfers despite worries that students crossing district lines will result in "white flight."
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that the board decided Thursday to uphold a decision made earlier this year to deny Public School Choice Act exemptions to Hope, Junction City, Lafayette County and Camden Fairview districts.
District leaders had pursued the transfer law exemptions on the argument that white parents in districts with a substantially black student enrollment may be racially motivated to transfer their children to neighboring, largely white school districts.
An attorney for the Education Department cautions against basing a decision on speculation or fear.
The districts are now expected to challenge the state decision in federal court.
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Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, http://www.arkansasonline.com