METCO: A long bus ride with an even longer history

   This February marks Black History Month, a time dedicated to recognizing the role that African Americans play in our history, a role which is often marginalized in a Caucasian dominated society. An important program for many of  us to recognize during this time  is the METCO program.  
   The METCO program has a rich history within our Commonwealth and our town. The METCO program was established in  1966 with the mission as stated by METCO Inc.: “to expand educational opportunities, increase diversity, and reduce racial isolation, by permitting students in certain cities to attend public schools in other communities that have agreed to participate.” The program was created as a result of Boston’s forced desegregation efforts during the late 1960’s in which  federal Judge Garrity ruled that Boston’s public schools were unconstitutionally segregated.
   Garrity mandated that Schools systems in Boston were to bus their children to  racially isolated schools in order to combat Boston’s segregation. As a result of this mandate many parents pulled their kids from the  Boston public school programs, with many of them moving to the suburbs or enrolling their children in private schools.
   Consequently many neighboring communities around Boston conceived the idea of the  METCO program in 1966. That year according to METCO Inc. “Two-hundred and twenty METCO students, ( grades K-11 ) took their first bus ride to classrooms in the seven suburban districts.” Two Years later Scituate Public High School  became a METCO School.
   The METCO program has continued to grow since it’s founding and now, according to the Department of Education, METCO serves more than 3,300 students in 38 towns across the state with Scituate hosting 60 students in the fiscal year 2012. According to a a Harvard study cited on METCO.org “the program places the majority of its 460 annual placements in grades Kindergarten, One and Two. Approximately sixty percent are African American, 30% Hispanic, and 10% Asian.”
   Senior Davyanna Cox who is in the METCO program, said “ The METCO program gives a great opportunity for students.”The study said “that 92% of the program’s graduating seniors (238) indicated their intent of going on to higher education,” in contrast to 70% of their Boston counterparts. Although the METCO program has grown significantly since it’s conception in 1966 there are still more than 15,000 students on  the waiting list for the METCO program.