April 18, 2026 • 10 mins
For decades, the METCO program has helped to connect students from Boston with their counterparts at schools around Greater Boston, working to bridge the gap of educational inequity. It's a program that grew out of the push to de-segregate Boston schools during the height of the civil rights movement, and all these years later, it's still breaking barriers by opening minds and opportunities in more than 30 communities. Dr. Kandice Sumner, President and CEO of METCO (who's also an alum!) joins Nichole this week to reflect on the program's successes over the past 60 years and share details about the upcoming Opportunity Ball on May 1.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England Weekend.
Each week right here we come together, we talk about
all the topics important to you and the place where
you live. To have you with us this week, I'm
Nicole Davis. Sixty years ago, during the height of the
civil rights movement and the push to desegregate Boston area schools,
the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity was born. At the time,
(00:29):
it was revolutionary and still today all these years later,
the voluntary busing program opens doors, mines and opportunities. Students
from Boston and more than thirty local communities are connected
through this project. Next month, the program is celebrating all
these decades of work, along with the thousands of students
who've made their way through the program, at the Opportunity Ball.
(00:50):
Doctor Candice Sumner is the program's president and CEO. She too,
by the way, is a met CO alum. And let's
start by talking a little bit more about METCO and
about that storied history.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
MECO is the longest running and largest desegregation program in
the country. We are sixty years old and young all
at the same time, and we have changed the lives
of hundreds of thousands of kids and generations of Bostonians
who are in pursuit of a higher quality education and
removing educational boundaries and barriers by getting urban Boston students
(01:26):
out to suburban districts in thirty three districts around the commonwealth.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Now, the state of civil rights, in the state of
racism and redlining and whatnot, it's changed a lot in
sixty years, but I feel like there are still some
lines there that are still connecting us to the past.
Tell us a little bit about your part in that
and what you've noticed. You know, you weren't around sixty
years ago, of course, but you know how it's changed
from then to now.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Well, the beauty of you know, racism and redlining and gentrification,
there have been some changes, but then there's some places
where things have changed a whole lot. And the beauty
also of the MECO program of it it is completely voluntary,
and sixty years ago it was a partnership between parents
from Dorchester and Roxbury and adjacent towns who said we
(02:15):
support and love this program. It started as Operation Exodus,
which was just a caravan of families and saying, you know,
you have seats out there. We've got amazing kids, and
these districts saying we've got seats, let's do this together.
And it was a partnership between six, you know, sixty
years ago of parents, families and our districts are founding
seven districts, and it was grassroots, and in some ways
(02:38):
it still is grassroots. It's still a completely voluntary partnership
between mecho Inc. And our thirty three suburban districts where
no matter what the flavor of the decade is regarding
civil rights, and no matter what the words and the
buzzwords are, we're still doing the work and still partnering
with every nuance and complexity that the current event rings
(03:00):
of making sure that all kids are learning in diverse
educational experiences, because that's what makes an educational experience complete.
If you're having the same conversation with the same people,
that's not really a complete education. It's a cute education,
but it's not a complete one. And so it has
been flexible and moving and still, you know, ever changing,
(03:22):
but a lot hasn't changed. Where we are a partnership
between Boston and our suburban districts for the purpose of
removing barriers and getting kids to have conversations together with
people who don't look like you. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Absolutely, it's a really big win win for both sides
because again it's the exposure for kids in these maybe
in some cases wealthier suburban areas that may not necessarily
know about life in underserved communities. And then you've got
kids in underserved communities awesome kids like really intelligent, super smart,
but you get them out there where there's a few
more resources. I mean, I don't see how there's anything
(03:55):
losing here. It really works out.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
It's a complete win win. It's a value add for everybody.
You know, Boston kids going out to suburban schools, we
are a value add and we are experiencing higher quality
of resources just like you just said. So it is
a complete win win no matter how you slice it
doesn't mean it's perfect, but it's a complete win win.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
What is honestly, you know, especially post COVID, we're all
just trying to get the kids to be the best
they can be and doing that requires a lot of
resources and energy and time and really good people behind
the scenes. So tell me a bit about your team
and how they're all working to get this done.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
The beauty of Metco is it is an entire ecosystem
of support. So there is MECO Inc. Which is our
staff that is you know, about ten to fifteen people
who are responsible for programming and enrollment and helping supporting families.
But then we are also partnering with each district's METCO
staff and our METCHCO directors and our MECO Directors Association,
(04:53):
who are the booths on the ground warriors taking care
of the students and their families in their respect districts
and making sure that they are receiving the full wrap
around services that they need. And every district is different,
every child is different, every family is different, and so
the MECHO directors and the MECO staff are truly the
special sauce that makes the whole ecosystem work. And then collaboratively,
(05:17):
the superintendents and the district staff and the you know,
the families of our districts are also our partners in
this work of making the whole experience invaluable, positive, supportive,
collaborative and transformational. So it's everybody. There's no one team.
It's like several teams working in sync as much and
(05:39):
as well as we can to make sure that kids
get the absolute most that they deserve.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Do you sleep and you must be very proud of
all of them?
Speaker 2 (05:46):
No, I don't sleep, and yes I'm very proud.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
There's just so many moving parts, I mean, but it's
all again for a good reason, buddy.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
It's also the kids, and they deserve it all. So
I don't need to sleep. The kids, the kids ones
that need to get everything exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Well, let's talk then about the upcoming Opportunity Ball. This
is again a great event. It's going to be highlighting
this sixty years of all this work. And you've got
some really big names coming to this event. So tell
us what people can expect if they buy a ticket.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Absolutely, this is not a thing you want to miss.
It is going to be a wonderful moment. We're first
and foremost, we're honoring our four mothers, Ruth Batson and
Jean McGuire. Jean McGuire whose birthday is this Saturday, she's
turning ninety five. Oh, so this is also a way
to just love on her as she was the executive
director for forty three years of the MECO program and
so we were honoring her with a Lifetime Legacy Award.
(06:37):
We've got co chairs Ronnie Devaux, Marvin McIntyre, Nia Grace,
We've got Michael Bivens, and we are honoring our inaugural
MECHCO Hall of Fame alumni, recognizing people like Chris Rourel.
We'll be honoring some of our amazing champions, like Senator
(06:58):
Liz Miranda, who will be receiving the John Lewis Award
for being an amazing trailblazer and increasing access for our students.
We'll be honoring our original riders, which are the first
kids who ever got on those buses sixty years ago,
who are growing and wonderful and giving them their flowers
and their your recognition while we can and loving on
(07:19):
them respectfully. And we're gonna have food and dancing. We're
gonna be showcasing our students, having a student speaker, and
we've got some amazing auction items that I've hot off
the presses. We've got some signed footballs from Stefan Diggs,
Ezekiel Elliott. You've got diamond earrings that folks can can
(07:39):
auction for private ice cream socials. It's you don't want
to miss it. It's gonna be nothing but joy and
wonderful times.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Private ice cream socials. I mean, yeahs are cool, but
like private ice cream, say us.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
It's that, it's Ben and Jerry's come and get it.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Oh okay, I am so there. I'm gonna have to
fight somebody on the auction for this. So the opportunity
ball is coming up on May first, and you're doing
this at the Artists for Humanity in Boston. What a
great venue, by the way, I love that place.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
It's wonderful. It's so much fun. It's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Yeah, it is. I'm assuming tickets are still on sale,
and if somebody wants to get one, where can they
do that?
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Absolute tickets are still on sale. If you would like
to get when, you can log onto our website metcoinc
dot org and it's on the home page our tickets.
We have tiered pricing. We have general admission tickets, we
have alumni pricing, and we have senior pricing. We want
everybody in the room. And so go on, find a
place where you fit in and come join the find.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Love that, okay. And if somebody wants to help out
with MECO, just otherwise they're hearing this conversation, they maybe
live in a suburban area around Boston. They just may
not have known much about MECO, but they're thinking, wait
a minute, I want to get involved. How can they
support you best through time or energy, money? How can
they do that?
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Fantastic? Well, we appreciate all friends and always to sponsor
and collaborate. So if you are a time, talent or
a treasure, there are ways to tap in. If you
would like to offer your treasures, you can sponsor, you
can donate once a time, multiple times. There are links
on our website on how you can support. If you
have time or talents. Please make sure that you lock
(09:17):
in on our website and sign up for our newsletter
and identify that you would like to support, or you
can just send me an email Ksumner at metcoinc dot org.
Because this only works with everybody taking it up and
working together and increasing the access and improving the educational
experience for everybody. And it takes everybody. So join the fund,
(09:38):
join the party, sign up, sign in and show up.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Yes, all right again met Co Opportunity Ball May first,
this coming May the artist for Humanity Epicenter, Doctor Sumner.
I really appreciate your time, your enthusiasm, your energy. Thank
you so much for being here.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Have a safe and healthy weekend. Please join us again
next week for another edition of the show Old Davis
from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio
From WBZ News Radio in Boston. This is New England Weekend.
Each week right here we come together, we talk about
all the topics important to you and the place where
you live. To have you with us this week, I'm
Nicole Davis. Sixty years ago, during the height of the
civil rights movement and the push to desegregate Boston area schools,
the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity was born. At the time,
(00:29):
it was revolutionary and still today all these years later,
the voluntary busing program opens doors, mines and opportunities. Students
from Boston and more than thirty local communities are connected
through this project. Next month, the program is celebrating all
these decades of work, along with the thousands of students
who've made their way through the program, at the Opportunity Ball.
(00:50):
Doctor Candice Sumner is the program's president and CEO. She too,
by the way, is a met CO alum. And let's
start by talking a little bit more about METCO and
about that storied history.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
MECO is the longest running and largest desegregation program in
the country. We are sixty years old and young all
at the same time, and we have changed the lives
of hundreds of thousands of kids and generations of Bostonians
who are in pursuit of a higher quality education and
removing educational boundaries and barriers by getting urban Boston students
(01:26):
out to suburban districts in thirty three districts around the commonwealth.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Now, the state of civil rights, in the state of
racism and redlining and whatnot, it's changed a lot in
sixty years, but I feel like there are still some
lines there that are still connecting us to the past.
Tell us a little bit about your part in that
and what you've noticed. You know, you weren't around sixty
years ago, of course, but you know how it's changed
from then to now.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Well, the beauty of you know, racism and redlining and gentrification,
there have been some changes, but then there's some places
where things have changed a whole lot. And the beauty
also of the MECO program of it it is completely voluntary,
and sixty years ago it was a partnership between parents
from Dorchester and Roxbury and adjacent towns who said we
(02:15):
support and love this program. It started as Operation Exodus,
which was just a caravan of families and saying, you know,
you have seats out there. We've got amazing kids, and
these districts saying we've got seats, let's do this together.
And it was a partnership between six, you know, sixty
years ago of parents, families and our districts are founding
seven districts, and it was grassroots, and in some ways
(02:38):
it still is grassroots. It's still a completely voluntary partnership
between mecho Inc. And our thirty three suburban districts where
no matter what the flavor of the decade is regarding
civil rights, and no matter what the words and the
buzzwords are, we're still doing the work and still partnering
with every nuance and complexity that the current event rings
(03:00):
of making sure that all kids are learning in diverse
educational experiences, because that's what makes an educational experience complete.
If you're having the same conversation with the same people,
that's not really a complete education. It's a cute education,
but it's not a complete one. And so it has
been flexible and moving and still, you know, ever changing,
(03:22):
but a lot hasn't changed. Where we are a partnership
between Boston and our suburban districts for the purpose of
removing barriers and getting kids to have conversations together with
people who don't look like you. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Absolutely, it's a really big win win for both sides
because again it's the exposure for kids in these maybe
in some cases wealthier suburban areas that may not necessarily
know about life in underserved communities. And then you've got
kids in underserved communities awesome kids like really intelligent, super smart,
but you get them out there where there's a few
more resources. I mean, I don't see how there's anything
(03:55):
losing here. It really works out.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
It's a complete win win. It's a value add for everybody.
You know, Boston kids going out to suburban schools, we
are a value add and we are experiencing higher quality
of resources just like you just said. So it is
a complete win win no matter how you slice it
doesn't mean it's perfect, but it's a complete win win.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
What is honestly, you know, especially post COVID, we're all
just trying to get the kids to be the best
they can be and doing that requires a lot of
resources and energy and time and really good people behind
the scenes. So tell me a bit about your team
and how they're all working to get this done.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
The beauty of Metco is it is an entire ecosystem
of support. So there is MECO Inc. Which is our
staff that is you know, about ten to fifteen people
who are responsible for programming and enrollment and helping supporting families.
But then we are also partnering with each district's METCO
staff and our METCHCO directors and our MECO Directors Association,
(04:53):
who are the booths on the ground warriors taking care
of the students and their families in their respect districts
and making sure that they are receiving the full wrap
around services that they need. And every district is different,
every child is different, every family is different, and so
the MECHO directors and the MECO staff are truly the
special sauce that makes the whole ecosystem work. And then collaboratively,
(05:17):
the superintendents and the district staff and the you know,
the families of our districts are also our partners in
this work of making the whole experience invaluable, positive, supportive,
collaborative and transformational. So it's everybody. There's no one team.
It's like several teams working in sync as much and
(05:39):
as well as we can to make sure that kids
get the absolute most that they deserve.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Do you sleep and you must be very proud of
all of them?
Speaker 2 (05:46):
No, I don't sleep, and yes I'm very proud.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
There's just so many moving parts, I mean, but it's
all again for a good reason, buddy.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
It's also the kids, and they deserve it all. So
I don't need to sleep. The kids, the kids ones
that need to get everything exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Well, let's talk then about the upcoming Opportunity Ball. This
is again a great event. It's going to be highlighting
this sixty years of all this work. And you've got
some really big names coming to this event. So tell
us what people can expect if they buy a ticket.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Absolutely, this is not a thing you want to miss.
It is going to be a wonderful moment. We're first
and foremost, we're honoring our four mothers, Ruth Batson and
Jean McGuire. Jean McGuire whose birthday is this Saturday, she's
turning ninety five. Oh, so this is also a way
to just love on her as she was the executive
director for forty three years of the MECO program and
so we were honoring her with a Lifetime Legacy Award.
(06:37):
We've got co chairs Ronnie Devaux, Marvin McIntyre, Nia Grace,
We've got Michael Bivens, and we are honoring our inaugural
MECHCO Hall of Fame alumni, recognizing people like Chris Rourel.
We'll be honoring some of our amazing champions, like Senator
(06:58):
Liz Miranda, who will be receiving the John Lewis Award
for being an amazing trailblazer and increasing access for our students.
We'll be honoring our original riders, which are the first
kids who ever got on those buses sixty years ago,
who are growing and wonderful and giving them their flowers
and their your recognition while we can and loving on
(07:19):
them respectfully. And we're gonna have food and dancing. We're
gonna be showcasing our students, having a student speaker, and
we've got some amazing auction items that I've hot off
the presses. We've got some signed footballs from Stefan Diggs,
Ezekiel Elliott. You've got diamond earrings that folks can can
(07:39):
auction for private ice cream socials. It's you don't want
to miss it. It's gonna be nothing but joy and
wonderful times.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Private ice cream socials. I mean, yeahs are cool, but
like private ice cream, say us.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
It's that, it's Ben and Jerry's come and get it.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Oh okay, I am so there. I'm gonna have to
fight somebody on the auction for this. So the opportunity
ball is coming up on May first, and you're doing
this at the Artists for Humanity in Boston. What a
great venue, by the way, I love that place.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
It's wonderful. It's so much fun. It's beautiful.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Yeah, it is. I'm assuming tickets are still on sale,
and if somebody wants to get one, where can they
do that?
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Absolute tickets are still on sale. If you would like
to get when, you can log onto our website metcoinc
dot org and it's on the home page our tickets.
We have tiered pricing. We have general admission tickets, we
have alumni pricing, and we have senior pricing. We want
everybody in the room. And so go on, find a
place where you fit in and come join the find.
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Love that, okay. And if somebody wants to help out
with MECO, just otherwise they're hearing this conversation, they maybe
live in a suburban area around Boston. They just may
not have known much about MECO, but they're thinking, wait
a minute, I want to get involved. How can they
support you best through time or energy, money? How can
they do that?
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Fantastic? Well, we appreciate all friends and always to sponsor
and collaborate. So if you are a time, talent or
a treasure, there are ways to tap in. If you
would like to offer your treasures, you can sponsor, you
can donate once a time, multiple times. There are links
on our website on how you can support. If you
have time or talents. Please make sure that you lock
(09:17):
in on our website and sign up for our newsletter
and identify that you would like to support, or you
can just send me an email Ksumner at metcoinc dot org.
Because this only works with everybody taking it up and
working together and increasing the access and improving the educational
experience for everybody. And it takes everybody. So join the fund,
(09:38):
join the party, sign up, sign in and show up.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Yes, all right again met Co Opportunity Ball May first,
this coming May the artist for Humanity Epicenter, Doctor Sumner.
I really appreciate your time, your enthusiasm, your energy. Thank
you so much for being here.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Have a safe and healthy weekend. Please join us again
next week for another edition of the show Old Davis
from WBZ News Radio on iHeartRadio
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