ARKANSAS PLANS TO DESEGREGATE SCHOOLS

More than a half-century after federal troops escorted nine black students into an all-white school, efforts to desegregate the classrooms of the southern city of Little Rock, Ark., are at another turning point.

The state wants to end its long-running payments for desegregation programs, which date back to the era when schools were segregated by law in the south. But three school districts that receive the money say they need it to continue key programs. And a federal judge has accused the schools of delaying desegregation so they can keep receiving an annual infusion of $70 million.

A federal appeals court will hear arguments Monday from both sides. The judges are expected to decide eventually whether Arkansas still has to make the payments and whether two of the districts should remain under court supervision.

The schools, which serve about 50,000 students, have come a long way since 1957, when the governor and hundreds of protesters famously tried to stop the nine black students, known as the Little Rock Nine, from entering Central High School. But thousands of white and black children still have to be bused to different neighborhoods every day under one of America's largest remaining court-ordered desegregation systems.