Segregationist General Assembley of 1958

The Arkansas General Assemblies of 1957, 1958 and 1959 passed a whole raft of pro-segregation legislation, much of it to do with school policy. Acts 4 and 5 of the 1958 General Assembly worked in concert to try to undermine public school districts by transferring public money to private schools. Act 4 allowed the governor to close integrated schools. Act 5 provided for the transfer of funds from an integrated public school district to a segregated school district or to a private school. In 1959 a federal district court ruled both acts unconstitutional. Act 4 violated the Fourteenth Amendment. Act 5 denied students their right to attend a public high school in their own school district. The state could not transfer school funds to other districts or to private schools to avoid integration.