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RESOLUTION NO. 320 ( #7 -84)
A RESOLUTION OPPOSING THE FORCED CONSOLIDATION OF THE LITTLE ROCK,
NORTH LITTLE ROCK AND PULASKI COUNTY SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS,
URGING JUDGE WOODS TO DISQUALIFY HIMSELF FROM THE CASE, URGING A
NEW TRIAL AND OTHER MATTERS RELATING THERETO.
WHEREAS, the City of Jacksonville is located within the Pulaski
County Special School District; and
WHEREAS, Judge Henry Woods handed down a ruling on April 13,
1984, ordering the consolidation of the North Little Rock, Little
Rock and Pulaski County Special School Districts in order to cor-
rect racial imbalance; and
WHEREAS, Judge Henry Woods, failed or refused to consider the
followin g facts:
(a) If racial imbalance is a real problem, there are better
alternatives than forced consolidation of three of the largest
school districts in the state;
(b) The residents of Jacksonville and Pulaski County Special
School District resent and deny the finding that they have signifi-
cantly contributed to segregation and that they have committed a
constitutional violation procucing a significant segregative effect
on the Little Rock School District;
(c) It is imperative that local school districts retain
control over the education of children and the day -to -day operation
of their school district;
(d) That no child, regardless of color, should be forced to
attend a school against his or her will;
(e) That the primary concern of all governmental officials,
including the judiciary, should be to insure quality education for
all children in all three districts and consolidation is not the
method to accomplish quality education;
(f) That the U. S. Supreme Court recognized that racial
imbalance alone does not establish segregative intent in Washington
v. Davis, 426 U. S. 229, 240 (1976);
(g) That any racial imbalance existing today in the Little
Rock School District has been caused by residential patterns and
not . by any intentional acts of the Pulaski County Special School
District;
(h) That persons living in specific areas of Jacksonville
have moved to those areas based on the fact that their child could
attend a neighborhood school and not to create racial imbalance in
the Little Rock School District;
(i) New schools built in the Jacksonville area by the Pulaski
County Special School District were built to provide facilities to
educate our youth and not to promote segregation;
(j) That the problems within the Little Rock School District
are a result of their own actions and nothing has been done by the
Pulaski County Special School District which could be construed an
intentional act towards the Little Rock School District unless
providing the highest quality education possible for our children
promotes segregation;
(k) That the Legislature of the State of Arkansas recently
enacted an additional sales tax to improve our educational standards
and the Boston expert who testified that one thing needed in the
proposed "new" county -wide school district would be to hire 90
black teachers to each white teacher regardless of qualification
is totally ridiculous and totally defeats the efforts to improve
the quality of education and will eliminate all positive results
from the new education standards;
RESOLUTION NO. 320 ( #7 -84) PAGE TWO
(1) In the State of Arkansas, local autonomous districts are
the basic educational units, not the counties, and if consolidation
is acheived, there will be an erosion of public support, a mass
exodus from public schools, and a feeling that the federal Courts
control the education of our children, not the local residents;
(m) In actuality, there is no possible link between what has
happened in the Little Rock School District and the actions of the
Pulaski County Special School District in educating our youth;
(n) In a recent case involving the schools in Cincinnati
and the suburban areas around it, the Western District of the
United States District Court in Ohio, on similar facts, found that
consolidation was not a proper remedy nor was it constitutionally
required, Bronson v. Board of Education of City School District of
City of Cincinnati, et. al; and
WHEREAS, Judge Henry Woods, prior to his appointment as United
States District Judge, was a law partner for many years with former
Governor Sid McMath and was aware that the former Governor has headed
virtually every major campaign effort for the Little Rock Public
School District's attempts to raise the millage for the schools and
that this creates a strong appearance of impropriety;
BE IT RESOLVED by the Jacksonville City Council that it is
opposed to the consolidation of the Pulaski County Special School
District with the Little Rock and North Little Rock School Districts
and will do all within its power to assist in the reversal of the
consolidation order.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Jacksonville City Council
requests Judge Henry Woods excuse himself from the case to avoid
any appearance of impropriety from his former association with
former Governor Sid McMath as set forth above.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Jacksonville City Council
goes on record stating that the control of the Pulaski County
Special School District should remain with the local residents
residing in its attendance zones.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Jacksonville City Council
urge the granting of a new trial in this matter, and if none is
granted, urge the Appellate Courts to reverse the decision of
Judge Henry Woods for the reasons set forth hereinabove.
APPROVED AND ADOPTED THIS 3rd DAY OF MAY 1984.
di llif
C
A. ' JAMES G. R II
ATTEST TO:
I
X
CI LERK L —'
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
• ' i 1 . 1 11
K TH VAUGHA , C 9 Y ATTORNEY
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