FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CR

MONDAY, JUNE 22, 1998                                                                                                                               (202) 616-2777

                                                                                                                                                                                TDD (202) 514-1888







FEDERAL COURT APPROVES SETTLEMENT THAT WILL RELEASE


THE INDIANAPOLIS SCHOOL SYSTEM FROM COURT SUPERVISION








	WASHINGTON, D.C. --  The Justice Department, seven Indiana
school districts and Indiana state officials today filed a
settlement that will terminate a court desegregation order that
requires Indianapolis to transfer city students to six suburban
school districts.

	The settlement, filed in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis,
permits the Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) to phase out its
practice of transferring students to suburban schools that have a
low minority population.  Under the phase out, students in Marion
County, which includes the suburbs around Indianapolis, will not
have to change schools which they have already started attending. 
	Suburban school districts that have a minority population of
more than 20 percent will stop receiving new students from IPS in
the fall of 1999.  School districts, if any, which have a minority
population less than 20 percent will begin the phase out in 2004. 
The phase out will be complete when the last entering student
graduates.

	In 1969, a federal court found that the state had contributed
to the segregation of IPS by creating a unified governing structure
for Marion county, which encompassed all public services except
education.  In addition, the court found that all public housing
had been placed within the confines of IPS, thereby leading to the
segregation of minority residents in the city's school system.

	The court ordered IPS to begin transferring students to six
suburban school districts--a so-called inter-district remedy.   IPS
began the transfers in 1981, following a decade of appeals.

	Today's agreements phases out the inter-district remedies
established by the court order.

	In a related, but separate, agreement, the Indianapolis
Housing Agency agreed to take steps to expand affordable housing
opportunities throughout Marion County.  The steps, taken with the
assistance of the state, will ensure continued progress in efforts
to integrate both education and housing throughout the county.

	"This is a unique remedy for a unique school desegregation
case," said Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General for
Civil Rights.  "By requiring that steps be taken to further
integrate the surrounding suburbs, this agreement will help to
achieve diversity in schools and communities throughout Marion
County."

	The state has agreed to provide funding for educational
support during the transition period. 

	In a hearing today, the court approved the agreement phasing
out the inter-district remedies.  It also found IPS has complied
with the court's earlier orders concerning the operation of schools
within Indianapolis and released IPS from court supervision.

	There are approximately 350 school desegregation cases in
which the Justice Department is a party.  Of the 350 in which the
Justice Department is a party, only one other involves inter-district remedies.  

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