METCO - History of METCO

History of METCO

The program grew out of the dissatisfaction and frustration that preceded the violence and turmoil of Boston's desegregation busing efforts in the 1970s. After Judge Wendell Arthur Garrity Jr. of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled that the Boston Public Schools were unconstitutionally segregated, he developed a busing plan designed to “balance” any school that had a non-white student population of over 50%. This policy was specifically designed to comply with the Racial Imbalance Law (passed by the state in 1965), which required school districts to implement plans to “balance” any school that was over 50% non-white. The busing caused incredible turmoil. Racism ran rampant in many parts of the city, leading to the creation of Restore Our Alienated Rights, an anti-desegregation busing organization designed to protect the “vanishing rights” of white citizens. Just prior to the implementation of this policy, a large number of black parents boycotted the Boston Public Schools for their failure to integrate. As this was happening, the Brookline Civil Rights Committee of Brookline, MA (a Boston suburb that borders the city) broached the possibility of enrolling black students from Boston in the Brookline Public Schools, sparking the conversation that would lead to the development of the METCO concept.

In 1966, METCO’s first year of existence, METCO Inc. was established and seven school districts (Braintree, Lincoln, Arlington, Winchester, Sharon and Concord) began to accept students. METCO Inc. was established in 1966 as the service provider, and facilitates the admissions process and day-to-day operations. Today there are approximately 3,300 students enrolled in the METCO program, the majority of whom come from the city of Boston (about 150 come from the city of Springfield). Overall, approximately 4,300 students have graduated from the program since its founding. In the 2010-2011 school year, 75.2% of METCO pupils were African American, 3.4% were Asian, 16.8% were Hispanic, and the remaining 5% were classified as multi-race or “other.” The majority of the 37 METCO receiving districts are largely white: 40% of the districts have populations that are over 90% white, and only two of the 37 districts were under 70% white. Boston is currently 35% African-American, 41% Hispanic, 13% White and 8% Asian.