Plaintiffs: No deal on Cleveland school desegregation plan

In court filings Friday, federal officials and private plaintiffs both wrote that they prefer the desegregation plan a federal judge ordered in May to the latest plan offered by the Cleveland school district.

Government attorney Peter Beauchamp criticized the district's plan, writing to Brown that it "fails to equitably balance the burdens and benefits of desegregation across the Cleveland community, and is both less feasible and less educationally sound than the court's adopted plan."

"In broad terms, this plan would integrate the middle and high schools by grade level, maintain schools on both sides of town in a manner that is proportional based on student population, and fairly utilizes school facilities," Belway wrote.

The plaintiffs' compromise plan addresses the concerns plaintiffs have raised with the (district's) most recent plan to split the high school into two-grade level schools.

[...] it specifically addresses previously expressed concerns from the district about possible white student departure.