Making a Difference through METCO
The METCO program, which serves about 3,300 students in Boston and Springfield, provides an important school choice option for urban students in Massachusetts.
WATCH: METCO CEO Milly Arbaje-Thomas and Wayland High School METCO Coordinator Mabel Reid-Wallace join two Wayland High students who discuss the many benefits of the METCO program and the promise it holds to further the Civil Rights goal of educational equity by bringing together students who come from different backgrounds. Learn about the history of the METCO program and hear personal narratives from the people who have benefited the most – students.
Watch: METCO & Friendship
Help expand the METCO program!
METCO Students from Boston and Springfield:
For years now, Pioneer Institute has advocated for greater school choice, especially for students of color and the underprivileged from inner cities. The METCO program grew out of efforts to desegregate schools in the greater Boston area in the wake of the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. It has paved the way toward success for tens of thousands of children by transporting urban students to suburban schools. METCO students demonstrate remarkable success, including increased graduation rates and test scores outpacing state averages. Yet, the program’s funding has grown only incrementally over the past few years. METCO had a waitlist of over 9,000 students, and its budget cannot accommodate this demand.
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Hear from METCO Leaders & Students
“What the METCO program is really doing is combatting racism and discrimination one relationship and one classroom and one community at a time.”
“I always felt like the opposite race was against me, but when I’ve had conversations, I’ve learned that it’s not that they’re against me, it’s just that they think differently about the situation. We know that we can find the common ground between us, figure out what the problem is, and try to solve it together.”
“METCO students and Wayland residents learn about each other and learn about each other’s hardships, challenges, achievements… Having METCO students here gives kids another view of the world.”
“This is a program that grew out of the racism that existed in Massachusetts and that brought the parents from the suburbs and the urban communities together to say we need to make a change”
Make Your Voice Heard for METCO Now!
Learn more about how you can help exand the METCO program!