Kentucky bill would effectively re-segregate schools.
washingtonpost.com

The bill would abolish integration achieved by school bussing, requiring neighbourhood schools.

It would particularly affect one of the most successful school integration experiments in the nation (Jefferson County).

The bill has passed the Senate with all Republicans voting in favour but one. All Democrats opposed it. It now goes to the Kentucky House.

State Rep. Kevin D. Bratcher (R), sponsor of the bill, said it aims to bring common sense to a system that is unfair to children who can’t get into schools around the corner or across the street from where they live. Bratcher, who is white and represents part of Jefferson County, said he is sensitive to concerns about resegregation.

“But we have to look at what we’re giving up for desegregation,” he said. It’s harder for children in faraway schools to participate in extracurricular activities, he said, and for their parents to make it to PTA meetings and teacher conferences. What’s more, he said, busing costs student time and taxpayer money that could be better spent.