Desegregation lawsuit settlement approved in Arkansas

A federal judge has approved a settlement phasing out payments from the state of Arkansas to three Pulaski County school districts in a desegregation lawsuit. UALR Public Radio reports that the settlement requires the state to make annual payments of about $65.8 million for four more years to the Little Rock, North Little Rock and Pulaski County Special districts. Arkansas has been paying about $70 million a year to the three districts since 1989. The Little Rock School District sued the state and surrounding districts in the early 1980s.