Chicago schools agree to desegregation plan

The Justice Department and the Chicago School Board announced a proposed court settlement averting a federal school desegregation suit against the nation's third-largest school system. The settlement ends more than four months of secretive negotiations and nearly three years of federal efforts to hammer out a voluntary settlement. The settlement, which is filed must be approved by a federal judge, would make Chicago the third Northern city to agree to a voluntary desegregation plan this year. Earlier, South Bend, Ind., and Flint, Mich,, came to terms -- the first Northern cities ever to submit to desegregation without a court fight.