METCO’s Dr. Kandice Sumner on Massachusetts’ Voluntary School Desegregation Program

This week, on The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of the Center for Strong Public Schools and Prof. Albert Cheng of The Ohio State University speak with Dr. Kandice Sumner, President & CEO of METCO, Inc. Dr. Sumner shares the history of Massachusetts’s voluntary school desegregation program and reflects on her own experience as a Weston/METCO alumna. She explains its role as a national model, serving students from Boston and Springfield in suburban districts. Dr. Sumner discusses the students and families who participate, the academic and personal opportunities METCO provides, and the enormous demand that exceeds available seats. She examines research on METCO’s long-term outcomes, including stronger academic performance, graduation rates, college enrollment, and career prospects. Dr. Sumner also considers the program’s long bus rides, the ways students are integrated into receiving districts, and differences in outcomes for boys, girls, and first-generation college students. Finally, she addresses METCO’s funding constraints, limited enrollment growth, and policy changes that could expand METCO's public-school choice for urban students across Massachusetts.