Celebrating School Choice Week: The METCO Program
METCO, the nation’s longest-running voluntary school desegregation program, recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. As our research has shown, test scores and graduation rates are higher for METCO students than their Boston and Springfield peers. METCO students have been making progress in closing the achievement gap in both 3rd grade reading and 6th grade math.
Despite its proven track record, METCO receives inconsistent funding from the state and districts. The program has a waiting list of approximately 10,000 students, due in large part to its demonstrable academic success. We must expand and reform this program. Read our research and opinion pieces below, and view video clips from our media appearances and of METCO students themselves discussing the rewards and challenges of participating in the program.
We’ll be sharing school choice success stories all week – join in the conversation on Twitter, using #SchoolChoice.
National School Choice Week is an annual celebration of the variety of high-quality academic options available to families across the U.S. Each day this week at Pioneer Institute, we’ll be highlighting charter public schools, the METCO program, digital learning, vocational-technical schools, and independent and parochial schools.
The Benefits of Being a METCO Student
Opinion: METCO Matters As Never Before
WBUR Learning Lab: “Report Urges State To Expand METCO”
WBZ: “Educators Call For Metco Program Expansion”
The Boston Globe: “Study says Metco students outperform urban peers”
Nightside with Dan Rea: “Jamie Gass, Katani Sumner, and Susan Eaton Join Dan Rea To Discuss METCO”
