K.C. school desegregation judge dies

? Retired U.S. District Judge Russell G. Clark, who presided over the Kansas City, Missouri School District’s desegregation case, died Thursday night in a Springfield nursing home. He was 77.

The desegregation case, which has spanned 26 years, has cost more than $2 billion, winning both praise and criticism. The district is seeking an end to the case, saying it has reduced the achievement gap between black and white students.

Clark was assigned to oversee the case shortly after he was appointed to the federal bench in 1977. He presided over the case until 1997, three years before his retirement.

In 1984, Clark declared that the school district’s “discriminatory and state-fostered dual school system for black and white students must be eliminated.” He ruled that the district and the state of Missouri were liable for illegal segregation and ordered them to “wipe out segregation.”

Clark ordered an expensive system of magnet schools and other improvements..

The funeral service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday in Springfield.