Springfield, ILL. School District Required to Submit Desegregation Plan

Press Release
December 31, 1974

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Springfield, ILL. School District Required to Submit Desegregation Plan preview

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- d317e801-bb92-ee11-be37-00224827e97b

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Press Releases, Volume 6. Springfield, ILL. School District Required to Submit Desegregation Plan, 1974. d317e801-bb92-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/e38b0fbc-6846-40a7-a3d2-1cdfe17d8b95/springfield-ill-school-district-required-to-submit-desegregation-plan. Accessed May 15, 2025.

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    25D MY 

!BYU U NYPR25 

7FROM PR NEWSWIRE--NYC 212-832-9400/LA 213-626-5501/MIA 305-576-5020/ 

TO CITY DESK 

COPY TO EDUCATION EDITOR 

NEW YORK, DEC. 31 -- ATTORNEYS FOR THE NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND 

EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. ANNOUNCED TODAY THAT A CONSENT DECREE 

WAS SIGNED ON FRIDAY, DEC. 27 ON BEHALF OF BLACK STUDENT PLAINTIFFS 

AND THE SPRINGFIELD, ILL., SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 186, REQUIRING THE 

BOARD TO SUBMIT A DESEGREGATION PLAN FOR APPROVAL BY THE LOCAL 

FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT. 

THE SCHOOL DESEGREGATION LAWSUIT WAS A CLASS ACTION BROUGHT 

By Re WI GEL MCPHERSON, SR., AND OTHER SPRINGFIELD PARENTS AND 

STUDENTS ON BEHALF OF ALL BLACK CHILDREN RESIDING WITHIN THE 

SCHOOL DISTRICT. IT WAS FILED APRIL 11, 1974, AND ALLEGED A WIDE 

VARIETY OF DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION 

OF THE DISTRICT. 

THE CONSENT DECREE, SIGNED BY JUDGE HARLINGTON WOODS OF THE 

U.S. DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT AT SPRINGFIELD, 

IS THE EQUIVALENT OF A COURT RULING ON THE ISSUE OF THE SCHOOL 

DISTRICT'S WIABILITY. IT INCLUDES THE FINDING THAT VARIOUS 

ACTIONS OF THE SCHOOL BOARD AND SCHOOL OFFICIALS HAVE CONTRIBUTED 

TO THE CREATION, INTENSIFICATION AND PERPETUATION OF SCHOOL 

SEGREGATION IN THE DISTRICT; IT ALSO ITEMIZES THE KINDS OF SCHOOL 

DISTRICT PRACTICES WHICH VIOLATE THE CONSTITUTION. 

THE DECREE REQUIRES THE SPRINGFIELD BOARD OF EDUCATION IMMEDIATELY 

TO ELIMINATE AND PREVENT RACIAL SEGREGATION IN ITS SCHOOLS AND SETS A 

DEADLINE OF APRIL 30, 1975, FOR THE SUBMISSION BY THE BOARD OF A 

DESEGREGATION PLAN. HEARINGS WILL THEN BE HELD IF THE PLAINTIFFS 

OBJECT TO THE PLAN OR WISH TO PRESENT AN ALTERNATIVE. DESEGRESATION 

IS EXPECTED TO COMMENCE FOR THE 1975-76 SCHOOL YEAR. 

THE SUIT HAS BEEN HANDLED FOR THE PLAINTIFFS BY LEGAL DEFENSE 

FUND COOPERATING ATTORNEY PERCY Le JULIAN, JR., OF MADISON, WIS., 

ASSISTED BY NORMAN J. CHACHKIN OF THE LEGAL DEFENSE FUND STAFF IN 

NEW YORK. BOTH ATTORNEYS LAUDED THE SPRINGFIELD BOARD MEMBERS 

“FOR ACCEPTING THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITY IN A CONSTRUCTIVE 

MANNER RATHER THAN CARRYING ON A COURSE OF RESISTANCE TO THE LAW 

SUCH AS THAT EXHIBITED BY THE BOSTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE.” THEY SAID 

THE PLAINTIFFS LOOKED FORWARD TO WORKING WITH THE SCHOOL ADMINISTRA- 

TION IN THE HOPE OF ARRIVING AT AN AGREEMENT ON AN ACCEPTABLE 

DESEGRECATION PLAN. 

-0- 

/NOTE LO EDITOR -~ THE LEGAL DEFENSE FUND IS A COMPLETELY 

SEPARATE ORGANIZATION EVEN THOUGH IT WAS ESTABLISHED BY THE 

NAACP AND THOSE INITIALS ARE RETAINED IN ITS NAME. THE CORRECT 

DESIGNATION IS NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC., 

FREQUENTLY SHORTENED TO LEGAL DEFENSE FUND. 

/CONTACT -- PERCY L. JULIAN, JR. OF NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE FUND AT 

608-255-6400 OR NORMAN CHACHKIN OF THE FUND AT 212-586-8397/ 

-25-

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Springfield, ILL. School District Required to Submit Desegregation Plan

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