Chronology of the Development of METCO

For a number of years, Black parents had attempted to focus official attention on the problems faced by their children in the Boston Public Schools. METCO and the many other programs now in existence were born out of the frustration and determination of Black parents. The Black community found that they were beginning to gain some support in the suburban communities. The METCO program was able to combine the concern felt by urban and suburban citizens in a most unique manner.

A. June 1963 -The Education Committee of the NAACP, Boston Branch (Mrs. Ruth M. Batson, Chairman), presented a list of fourteen demands to the Boston School Committee. One of the de­ mands was for a recognition of the existance of de facto segregation in the Boston schools. The School Committee refused to accede to this demand.

B. June 19, 1963- Boston School Stayout, organized by Massachusetts Freedom Movement­ Reverend James Breeden and Noel Day, Co-Chairmen. This was the beginning of suburban involve­ ment in Boston School problems.

C. February 1964 - Second Boston School Stayout, organized by Massachusetts Freedom Movement, Reverend James Breeden and Noel Day, Co-Chairmen, in cooperation with urban and suburban rights groups. Suburban children and parents attended the day-long Freedom Schools established to protest Boston school conditions. This marked the first large-scale involvement of suburbs in Boston school problems.

D. June 1964- Boardman parents organize to protest transfer of Black children to school in BRA redevelopment zone. An injunction was sought and denied. After a hearing on September 14, the parents then launched their own busing program to the Peter F aneuil School in Beacon Hill section of Boston. This was the forerunner of Operation Exodus.

E. November 1964- Brookline Civil Rights Committee asked Brookline School Committee to accept Boston Black children. A citizen-staff committee was appointed to study the question. The committee included Leon Trilling, Brookline School Committee; Robert Sperber, Superintendent of Schools; high school students and others. At a later date they met with Mrs. Ruth Batson of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (second Executive Director of METCO) and Paul Parks, Education Officer of the NAACP, to consider Brookline's helping with the impasse exist­ ing in Boston. The question of accepting children in Brookline was never resolved, however, a tutor­ ial program resulted.

F. April 1965 - Publication of the Kiernan Commission Report, followed by a renewed drive by NAACP and other groups to convince the Boston School Committee to alleviate the problem of imbalance and improve the quality of education in Roxbury schools.

G. May 1965- Edward Logue, then Director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, proposed that a busing program involving certain communities be initiated.

H. May- August 1965- Plans formulated by NAACP and Massachusetts Federation of Fair Housing and Equal Rights (umbrella group over suburban rights committees) to support a state­ drafted Bill calling for an end to racial imbalance. Suburban groups (Federation member committees) joined with urban groups to achieve passage of the Racial Imbalance Act, which was signed on Au­ gust 18, 1965.

I. Cooperative summer programs in more than 20 communities brought suburban and Boston Black children together. Similar programs were held in the summer of 1966- many of them of a com­ munity-wide nature. -9 - J. September 1965- Operation Exodus began under the direction of Mrs. Ellen Jackson and Mrs. Elizabeth Johnson. More than 400 children were bused to available seats in Boston schools­ outside Roxbury-under Boston's open enrollment policy. Year-long, fund-raising drives to cover transportation costs led to further interest and involvement of suburban communities.

K. October 1965 - To begin implementation of the Racial imbalance Act (Chapter 641) pro­ vision calling for "voluntary cooperation between cities and towns to relieve imbalance," the Federa­ tion announced a meeting for November 4 to explore the extent of interest for a plan of educational cooperation between suburban school systems and Boston. Member committees were asked to invite their local school representatives.

L. November 2, 1965 - Boston School Committee elections. Mrs. Ruth Batson organized voter drive in Ward 12, Roxbury and achieved an almost total turnout. Black community vote was approximately 70%, as contrasted with approximately 35% in white sections. A suburban work force of 250 helped transport Roxbury voters to the polls. Melvin H. King, Black candidate for School Committee, was defeated in spite of great effort expended.

M. November 4, 1965- Massachusetts Federation for Fair Housing and Equal Rights Council Meeting. School Committee members and superintendents from over twelve towns heard Deputy Commissioner of Education, Dr. Thomas J. Curtin and Professor Leon Trilling of the Brookline School Committee, urge suburban communities to join in a plan similar to the one proposed to Brook­ line earlier in the year. The proposal was received with interest, but no commitments were requested at this time.

N. November 10, 1965 - Sudbury Human Rights Council and Sudbury League of Women Voters sponsored a meeting at which Paul Parks (Federal Board, NAACP), Edward J. Logue (Boston Redevelopment Authority) and Thomas S. Eisenstadt (Boston School Committee) debated Boston School problems. More than 500 attended; audience interest and concern were such that Federation Board members (7) attending were convinced the time was appropriate for action.

0 . November 1965- (1) Preliminary contacts were made the following day by Federation members, Mrs. John A. Keil and Mrs. Warren M. Haussler, who called Federation member committees to ascertain their interest. As soon as it was determined that a number of communities were prepared to offer some support to their school communities, Professor Trilling was contacted. His response was positive and a meeting was arranged. (2) On November 15, Mrs. Keil, Mrs. Haussler, Mrs. Jerome B. Wiesner-then State Chair­ man for Human Resources of the League of Women Voters-met with Professor Tril­ ling at his MIT office. An ad-hoc resource group was formed, and a small meeting was scheduled for December 14 to involve those representatives who responded favorably to Professor Trilling's exploratory calls. Meanwhile, news of the proposed program spread rapidly, and by the end of November some fifteen communities had expressed interest in learning more about the program. (3) Professor Trilling made professional contracts for the December 14 meeting. Mr. Paul Parks contacted Roxbury leaders-including Mrs. Ruth Batson, the MCAD Commis­ sioner, Mrs. Ellen Jackson and Mrs. Elizabeth G. Johnson, Operation Exodus Co­ Chairmen. Mrs. Johnson was suggested as a representative of that program.

P. December 2 - Mr. Parks arranged a meeting at the State Department of Education to discuss legal aspects. Deputy Commissioner Thomas J. Curtin, Assistant Director of Elementary and Secondary Education, Joseph E. Killory and State Department Counsel, William Wallace, met with nine members of the group. Dr. Curtin indicated strong interest in the "pursuit of open enroll­ ment in any and all forms," and emphasized that any plan must (a) satisfy the Racial imbalance Act and (b) result in a meaningful plan in terms of quality integrated education. He requested a written outline of the group's plan which was prepared and sent.

- 10 - Q_ December 3 - A Bill enabling children to attend schools in cities and towns other than that in which they reside was filed on behalf of the Federation by State Senate Majority Leader, Kevin Harrington. The Bill (S-110-passed as H-3905) was an extension of the intent of the Racial Imbalance Act.

R December 11 - Mrs. Wiesner participated in a Harvard panel on education and outlined a general plan for a "metropolitan council of education." Dr. Curtin, Mr. Killory, Mr. Parks, Mrs. Bat­ son, Mrs. Wiesner and Mrs. Haussler held a meeting with Dr. Herman Goldberg, Rochester Superin­ tendent of Schools who had pioneered a small-scale program involving one suburban community.

S. December 14 - Exploratory meeting held in Brookline, Professor Trilling's presentation was well received by 65 school representatives and citizens. The school systems of Newton, Welles­ ley, Lexington, Bedford, Winchester, Wayland, Arlington, Sudbury and Brookline all designated personnel to follow up the meeting. The State Department of Education and the Massachusetts Council for Public Schools and observers from Lincoln, Needham, Watertown and Weston also par­ ticipated. Plans were made then to implement the program-committees were set up to work on funding, long-range goals and community coordination. By the end of December, the basic METCO Program was defined and the name of the organization chosen.

T. January 1966 (1) Dr. Charles E. Brown, Newton Superintendent of Schools, agreed to draft a proposal to be submitted to the U.S. Office of Education under Title III of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Act. School Committees in Brookline, Newton, Lexington and Wel­ lesley voted to participate.

(2) February 9- Federal proposal submitted.

(3) February 14- Proposal to Carnegie Corporation of New York requesting funding for staff and office was submitted under the auspices of the Council of Public Schools.

(4) February 16 - Braintree School Committee voted to join. Arlington voted on April 1. A revised proposal was submitted to include these two communities.

(5) May 10- Lincoln and Concord voted to participate. Funding for Concord could not be obtained at that late date, but funds to allow ten kindergarten children to attend Lincoln schools were obtained from a variety of private sources.

U. March 7 (1) State House hearing on S-110. Professional educators and laymen testified on behalf of the Bill. (2) February- August- Legislative efforts on behalf of S-110 (dubbed the "METCO Bill" by the press) continued. METCO participating systems, Federation Board member committees and League of Women Voters-which officially endorsed the program­ worked to achieve passage. The Bill was signed into law on August 13.

V. March- August- METCO Community Coordinator, Mrs. John Keil, established commun­ ity committees in participating towns. These were to be broad-based committees, drawing represen­ tatives from better-school groups, PTA's, ministerial alliances, Federation member committees, LWV, school officials and community leaders. Prime role of these committees was to generate com­ munity interest and support in the program, to help select host families for the MET CO children and to maintain liaison between parents, schools and the METCO staff.

W. March 24- METCO Incorporation Meeting. By-laws were prepared and a slate of officers, Executive Committee and Board of Directors were drawn and standing committees formed. Appli­ cation papers were filed with the Commonwealth.

- 12- X. March 21 - Boston School Committee voted 3-2 to cooperate with the METCO Program.

Y. April 27 - METCO officers and participating superintendents met at State Department of Education with HEW Title III representatives. Preliminary approval of the proposal was given at that time.

Z. May 24 (1) METCO Board of Directors appointed the staff: Mr. Joseph E. Killory, Executive Direc· tor; Mrs. Ruth M. Batson, Associate Executive Director; Mrs. Elizabeth Johnson, Office Manager; Dr. David K. Archibald, Director of Research and Evaluation. (2) June - August - Final funding approval was received early in June. MET CO office open­ ed at 178 Humboldt Avenue, Roxbury. During the summer months the staff interviewed and selected children, assigned them to participating systems and arranged for trans­ portation contracts. Revised 5/ 77 (Original Chronology written by Elizabeth Keil)

BLACK HISTORY WEEK OBSERVANCE Photo appeared in the newspaper, Bedford Minute Man, February 24, 1977 Photo by Michael Rosenberg, Editor

. 13 .