Group says proposal for Maryland black colleges falls short

February 08, 2018 02:27 PM

A civil rights group says Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan's proposal of a financial settlement to end a lawsuit over Maryland's historically black colleges does not respond to the remedial plan outlined by a judge.

On Wednesday, Hogan's administration announced a settlement offer up to $100 million. The proposal came more than a decade after advocates for four historically black colleges sued the state, accusing it of operating a segregated university system.

A judge's order last year outlined possible remedies to what she found is a constitutional violation due to unnecessary program duplication.

On Thursday, the president of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law said the state's offer is one step toward a resolution, "but real programmatic changes remain critical to placing Maryland on a path to racial desegregation."

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