China Protest Over Cash-Strapped City’s School Plan Turns Violent

Demonstrators turned on police in heavily indebted Leiyang, which wants to force some students to attend private schools

BEIJING—Hundreds of people angry at a debt-laden Chinese city’s plans to deal with overcrowded public schools clashed with police in a protest that shows the social tensions beneath China’s long-running local-government debt problems.

More than 600 people gathered Saturday night outside police headquarters in Leiyang to express their outrage over a plan to force some students to attend private school. Some threw water and beer bottles, bricks and firecrackers at police officers and local officials, the police said in a news...