A Timeline of Boston School Desegregation, 1961-1985

1969March 13MayJune 12June 25October 22NovemberMay 27State legislature rejects two bills that would have weakened or repealed RacialImbalance Act. The first, sponsored by BSC member Hicks, would haverepealed the Act, and this marks the third year in a row Hicks' bill was rejected.The second, sponsored by BSC member John Kerrigan, would have exemptedgrades one through six from the Act.Construction begins on the William Monroe Trotter School in Roxbury. Theschool is designed to be a magnet school to draw white students into the area.BSC submits to BOE its Second Stage Plan. The plan has two phases:1. Phase one will rely on open enrollment and METCO to bus about 775 nonwhitestudents to integrated schools.2. Phase two will involve the construction of eight new schools that willaccommodate about 2400 non-white students.BOE unanimously approves BSC's second stage plan, but requires BSC toimplement the following provisions by December 1, 1968:1. Plan for construction of new schools in Roxbury as well as Dorchester.2. Secure financial support for expanded open enrollment program.3. Redraw attendance district lines.4. Involve parents more fully in school planning.5. Use savings from the METCO program to fund desegregation plans.BOE expresses displeasure with BSC's progress on June 25 changes to theSecond Stage Plan and asks for a third stage plan. 23State legislators and black parents begin to recognize the dissipating impact ofthe 1965 Racial Imbalance Act. Reasons cited include a lack of enforcement bythe state and a lack of interest among black parents, especially in Roxbury, toinvolve themselves in solutions for their schools' problems. As a result two newbills are submitted to the legislature from Thomas F. Curtain, DeputyCommissioner of Education. The first would have the state pay the entire costof busing efforts such as Operation Exodus. The second would require the stateto pay nearly the entire cost of school construction in Boston suburbs toaccommodate children from segregated urban schools.At the same time, an urban planning report submitted to BOE shows that even ifBoston completes all new schools in its construction plan, as many as 20,000non-white students will remain in segregated schools. A racial census showsthat segregation is increasing, not decreasing, in Boston schools; 71% of nonwhitestudents attend segregated schools, up from 70% when the RacialImbalance Act was passed. 24BSC submits third stage plan to BOE, the primary focus of which was onbuilding nine additional schools and moving about 1390 non-white studentsfrom segregated schools.23 MRC Packet at 8.24 Id. at 9.12