June 11, 1963
Fourteen demands to improve the quality of education for Boston's black students
were presented to the Boston School Committee by the Education Committee of
Boston's NAACP, (Ruth M. Batson, Chairperson) with an Admission of a de facto
segregation policy effected by the School Committee as one of the demands.
June 18,1963
Black students and parents hold one-day school boycott to protest the inequalities
of segregated schools. This Boston School Stay-Out, organized by the Massachusetts
Freedom Movement, was the beginning of suburban involvement in the Boston school
problem.
July 1963
The Boston Branch of the NAACP led picketing demonstrations at School Committee headquarters
as a result of inaction by the Committee on the 14 demands of the NAACP's
Education Committee.
February 26, 1964
Twenty-thousand black students stage a second school boycott. Some suburban
white students attend the day-long "Freedom Schools" set up in black
churches and community agencies to protest the Boston school conditions for black
children and youth.
March 1964
A Twenty-one member committee (Kiernan Commission) was established by the State Board
of Education to study the effects of racial segregation in schools.
September 1964
Boardman School parents protest against an inadequate school facility and
classroom over-crowding. Parents begin their own busing program by sending
their children from Roxbury to the white Peter Faneuil School in the Back
Bay.
February 14, 1966
A Proposal was submitted to Carnegie Corporation of New York for funding of a METCO
staff and offices.
February-May 1966
Braintree, Lincoln and Arlington School Committees request to participate
in METCO. Winchester, Sharon and Concord vote to participate when classroom
seats and additional funding are available.
March-August 1966
Committees are formed in the seven suburban districts to develop community support,
select host families and identify METCO community coordinators.
May 24, 1966
The METCO Board of Directors and Central office staff are appointed.
June 1966
Notice of funding approval received. METCO offices opened at 178 Humboldt
Avenue, Roxbury to recruit the first students.
August 13, 1966
The "METCO Bill", filed in December 1965, is signed into law.
July-August 1966
METCO staff interviews parents and students, select and assign first METCO
students. Bus transportation contracts are arranged.
September 6,1966
Two-hundred and twenty METCO students, ( grades K-11 ) take the first bus ride
to classrooms in the seven suburban districts.
The planning events for METCO moved at a rapid pace. Already
exhausted by organizational demands in the spring of 1966, METCO administrators
faced an even more demanding schedule over the summer months. With the school
year ending in late June, 220 students had to be selected to enter the seven
suburban districts in September.
Human services, social, civil rights, church and community organizations throughout
the black community were notified about the application process. Student selection
criteria were developed and approved by METCO, Inc.'s Board of Directors. It was
decided that METCO would accept students with a range of academic accomplishments--high
achievers, average achievers and low achievers--with most being in the average
range. Unfortunately, given the low standards of the Boston schools and high grades
given for less than rigorous studies, the average student was academically weak
compared to the average suburban student. The staff decided that no student with a
serious learning disability would be accepted and all students had to be in a regular
grade placement.
Dr. Joseph Killory, METCO, Inc.'s first director, was on leave from his position
at the Massachusetts Department of Education. He spent his time visiting and
working with the suburban superintendents. Associate Director Ruth Batson
and Staff Assistant Betty Johnson began the process of screening applications,
interviewing and selecting the students.
Mindful that the students selected had to be approved by the suburban district,
METCO was ready to battle for and defend its choices. The staff expected clear
and specific reasons for any student refused by the receiving METCO district.
In one case, METCO selected a child with epilepsy, but the district he was
assigned to did not want to accept him. METCO challenged this rejection and
the student was accepted. No METCO applicant was interviewed unless accompanied
by a parent or guardian. Both students and parents were interviewed and all
high school applicants were interviewed separately from their parents. There
was one exception, a high school student whose parents would not come for
an interview. After several appointments had been "broken", an agency
social worker called to explain the family's circumstances. This student was
permitted an interview accompanied by the agency representative and was accepted into
METCO.
Applications for the program were completed on-site. In the interview process,
the staff first asked applicants how they heard about the program and then
provided an explanation of METCO's purpose and goals. Students and their parents
were asked why they wanted to participate. Invariably the response was, "To
get a better education." Few indicated that they wanted an integrated
school experience. Parents were asked to describe their child's personality,
likes and dislikes, and behavior in and out of the school classroom.
Parents were advised that, "METCO is an interim program.
We only expect it to last three years, as METCO only has funding for about
three years. As soon as Boston "straightens out", the children
will return to their Boston schools." It was emphasized to parents that their
children might find this academically and socially disruptive. Not one
parent responded negatively to the warning.
Students were presented with the situation they would be facing as METCO
participants--rising at 5:30 a.m. and being out on the street as early
as 6:30 a.m. to meet the bus, leaving familiar surroundings, being "bused"
to an all-white environment, returning to Roxbury at 4 or 5 p.m. or
later,
and four hours of homework every night compared to none in the Boston
schools.
The student response to the program was mostly positive. Many worried about
leaving their friends. However, in the separate interviews with high school
applicants, only two said that they didn't want to be in METCO. There
seemed to be some differences between the boys and girls as to their feelings
about being in the program. The girls were more adventurous about schooling
in the suburbs, the boys were a bit cautious and reticent. There were also a
variety of responses about how participants would handle racial harassment.
"I'd ignore it," was the most frequent answer; but, "I'd
punch them in the mouth," required some discussion! More than 600
students were interviewed, hundreds of telephone calls and inquires were
received, and nearly 1,000 letters asking for an application form were
processed. Parents seemed to wait for acceptance letters from METCO with
the same anxiety as waiting to hear about their child's acceptance to college.
When the final student selections were made, the METCO staff was satisfied
that it had embraced these considerations:
A balance between boys and girls
Students who represented an "academic mix"
Students representing varied family backgrounds:
professional families, working class families, single
parent families, and families on public assistance
Parents' ability to bear up under the pressure and rigors
of the program
Children with an independent spirit regardless of past academic
performance
A mix of neighborhoods where the students lived: Roxbury,
South End, Jamaica Plain, Dorchester and Mattapan.
Assignments to the suburban districts were determined by space
availability in each grade and parent preferences when possible. Almost every parent
wanted their child placed in Newton or Brookline, both communities having regional and
national reputations for educational excellence and short traveling distances from the
city. Newton had the largest suburban black population, which nonetheless comprised only
about one percent of Newton's total population.
Wellesley was the only community for the placement of children
entering kindergarten. Later, Lincoln did accept kindergarten. This caused concern
for some parents as Lincoln was an upper class community with no black residents.
It was unknown to most parents, and
entailed a 50-minute bus ride. Arlington was accepting only fifth-graders,
and parents were skeptical because of its reputation for housing discrimination.
Further-more, Arlington was not considered to be one of the "elite"
suburban communities. Lexington was known because of its historical background.
It was a popular choice in that it was accepting only junior high students,
which represented the largest pool of applicants. Braintree was an unknown
quantity to parents and was not a popular choice. But, as one parent said,
"It's got to be better than Boston!"
On August 15, 1966, the 220 letters of acceptance were mailed. Parents whose
children were accepted were jubilant. Others were disappointed, and some were
very angry at not having their children placed. Some parents claimed that
the admissions process was biased, that METCO had selected only the "cream
of the crop", or worse, the personal friends of the staff. Ironically,
when school began, suburban educators complained that METCO students were
not well enough equipped. METCO administrators were subjected to a great deal
of pressure from these parents in the days leading up to the opening of school
in September. Parents telephoned constantly, sent letters, and made unannounced
visits to the office--all to request that their children be reconsidered, some
literally "begging" that their child be admitted.
The staff had gone to an extreme to eliminate favoritism in the admission
procedures and final decisions. Because there were three times as many
applicants as spaces, no siblings were accepted. There were several exceptions.
The children of METCO staff were selected as were all students from the
Boardman School closed by the urban renewal process going on in Roxbury.
There was also a situation where the medical hardship of a parent warranted
the placing of three siblings. All of the students selected were black
with the exception of two-- a boy who was part of the Boardman School
group, and a high school girl who was assigned to Brookline High. The
Program directors were asked many times why she was placed. The response
was that she was the only white applicant to apply, and she lived within
the neighborhood area set for selection. There was no reason not to accept
her. METCO was funded with private money at that time.
With the selections and assignments completed, the job of orientation for
the students, their parents, and the suburban school people and host families
began. Freedom House on Crawford Street opened its doors for the preparatory
sessions. Since 1949, Freedom House, founded and co-directed by Otto and Muriel
Snowden, has been sponsoring race relations improvement and understanding
in the greater Boston community.
A mood of seriousness, excitement and apprehension filled the
meetings, which were swelled with many family members and friends of these first METCO students.
The rationale, purposes and financing of METCO were presented. The possibility of racial incidents,
and the physical, emotional and social demands that the students would face, were openly discussed.
The potential benefits of the program were also presented along with
reassurances about the support that the METCO staff would provide. These
meetings were emotionally draining. While the parents seemed to trust
METCO personnel--they hung onto every word--there was a great deal of
fear about this "experiment". At times, even METCO workers and
staff were overwhelmed by feelings of doubt. Was METCO a good idea? Would
it work?
In late August, the students visited their assigned METCO schools. As the
buses approached the schools, silence prevailed. They were greeted warmly
by the receiving school principals, staff and host family coordinators. In
some instances, the school personnel were as nervous as the students. They
searched for the right words. People who were skeptical about the program were
easy to spot; they greeted the students with "frozen" smiles and
stiff body movements.
The students were impressed. Green grass and manicured shrubs around the
schools, wide freshly painted school corridors, well equipped gyms and
libraries, cafeterias, and the science labs amazed them. They had never
seen such things in Boston schools. The return trip home was different. Loud
and lively talk prevailed. The first trial had ended successfully.
To promote a supportive environment for the METCO students, each one was
assigned a host family in the suburban district. It was the responsibility
of each suburban organizing committee to find an appropriate host family
for each students, preferably a family with a child of the same sex and
in the same school grade as the METCO student. The host family arrangement
was especially necessary in Newton and Arlington where elementary students
went home for lunch at noontime. The host family was also responsible for
the care of the METCO student--a home away from home-- in the event
of an emergency, and for providing a ride back to Boston if the bus was missed.
Joe Killory and Betty Johnson tackled the logistics of setting up the bus
transportation routes and schedule. Detailed street maps of Boston and of
each of the suburban neighborhoods were studied. Each student's residence
was pinpointed on seven Boston maps--one for each METCO district. Distances and
travel times had to be calculated. Bus pick-up and drop-off points had to be decided.
Safety and the length of the bus ride were priority considerations. Young students
shouldn't have to cross busy main thoroughfares. Parents requested stops near
their homes and safe shelters from bad weather conditions.
As the various transportation routes were developed, traffic
patterns in and out of the city during the early morning and late afternoon
hours had to be checked. There were a large number of variables to be taken
into account. All routes mapped for the buses had to be field-tested by staff
in their automobiles. It was decided that all students going to Brookline
High would be provided with tickets to ride public transportation, while all
kindergarten children assigned to Lincoln would ride in station wagons for safety.
When the bus schedules were released there was a flood of complaints. Parents
wanted their children picked up earlier, or later or at different stops. Some
requested permission to drive their children to and from the suburban community
every day. The staff did not yield to these initial requests. No bus schedule
changes were made except where an extreme hardship on the family or student
was clear. The plan was to see how the bus schedules and routes worked for
the first two weeks, and then make the necessary adjustments. A firm policy
that all students had to ride to and from their assigned school on a METCO
bus was established. As it happened, after two weeks, most parents and students
had adjusted to the original bus schedule plans and few changes had to be made.
The true test of METCO was not the busing routes, but how the children would
be received on the first day of school. At the end of August and just before
Labor Day, rumors abounded about the lack of support for the METCO
concept in the suburbs. The METCO suburban community organizing committees tracked down
the various rumors which were determined to be without foundation. In Wellesley, however, the
rumors appeared to have some validity. On the morning of the opening day of
school, Betty Johnson, Joe Killory and other staff were on the streets at
sunrise, covering the bus stops and assisting the drivers with their routes.
Attendance was nearly one hundred percent. Ruth Batson stayed in the office
to cover telephone calls from parents and to be ready for any crisis that
might arise. In Wellesley, fears of disruption and racial incidents seemed
to have some basis when a custodian found the message, "GO HOME NIGGER",
painted on the front wall of the school. The message was quickly painted over before the
METCO bus arrived and the day went on without further incident in Wellesley.
To everyone's relief, the first day went smoothly and was uneventful in the
other six communities. Only a few students had missed their buses, or the buses
had missed them. Ruth Batson recalls, "We waited anxiously as the buses headed back to
the city to end METCO's first day. My heart was heavy with both fear and excitement.
I could not relax until each student was home safely. At 5:30 p.m., with no
calls from parents and all students accounted for, I walked up Humboldt Avenue
from the METCO office, and turned the corner onto Ruthven Street to my home.
We had made it through the first day."
