Opinion: Workable school plan

U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Kovachevich got her message across two years ago with a blunt ruling against the Hillsborough School District. In December 1998, Kovachevich told the district to quit its whining; she would not end the desegregation order, nor would she explain to the district what steps were sufficient to end federal oversight of the schools. "It is not the role of the court," the judge explained, "to engage in strategic planning."

The district got the message. Its proposal to end its 40-year-old school desegregation case is far-reaching but realistic, and it promises to improve educational opportunities for black and white students alike. The district would spend $83-million to build and refurbish schools in minority neighborhoods, spend millions more each year to boost scholastic achievement among black students and use new social, tutoring and day-care programs to prepare students for the classroom.

This aggressive approach reflects how far the district has come. After failing to achieve unitary status in 1998, the district showed its contempt by asking Kovachevich to "provide direction" specifying what Hillsborough was obligated to do. The maneuver was a cheap shot to embarrass the judge. But thanks in large part to the efforts of School Superintendent Earl Lennard and School Board member Candy Olson, the district has produced a desegregation plan that embodies the very good faith Kovachevich rightly saw as missing two years ago.

Of course, the plan only charts a path, and it is important that court supervision continues for an interim period of at least four years. The bulk of spending for central-city schools won't occur until 2004. District officials said they may accelerate that timetable, but even if they do, the court is needed to oversee the transition and ensure that spending on schools in largely black neighborhoods is not pushed off or skimmed to other schools.

Court oversight through at least 2004 would not unnecessarily prolong the federal role or cast doubt on Hillsborough's commitment to achieving the original purpose behind the desegregation suit. The district's own target date is 2004, and it will phase in the plan as school facilities are improved. The court should be no impediment as work proceeds. It needs time, anyway, to examine the impact of broader aspects of the plan, such as allowing students to choose their schools, which likely means expanding busing and the sensitive task of redrawing school boundaries.

The plan represents a psychological break from the district's history of intransigence. And while it likely meets the bar Kovachevich set two years ago, the plan also deserves the genuine trust of parents and leaders in the black community, who -- unlike under the old segregated system -- have a role in whether voluntary integration succeeds. The NAACP erred by withdrawing its involvement in the plan in an apparent effort to give cover to its sister organization, the Legal Defense Fund, attorneys for the plaintiff in the Hillsborough case. The NAACP has an opportunity, as the plan goes to Kovachevich, to lobby the district to sweeten the pot -- expanding tutoring and safety-net programs for students and parents in need. Never have old antagonists had more reason to come together.

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