The only U.S. county to close all its public schools rather than desegregate them is Virginia's Prince Edward (pop. 14,000), whose schoolhouse doors have stayed shut for three years. Last week Federal District Judge Oren R. Lewis rejected Prince Edward's elaborate device to avoid obeying the law of the land.
In 1959 the county abruptly cut off tax levies for public schools, replaced them with the Prince Edward School Foundation—a "private" school system for about 1,400 white children, who took their lessons in churches and public halls. The foundation got state and county grants covering all...
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