Of the program's 20,000 applicants, only 3,000 actually obtain seats in suburban schools. For those students who volunteer to board a school bus before most in Wayland are awake for the ride into an unfamiliar environment in search of educational opportunity, METCO delivers.
Does METCO hold room for improvement? Certainly, no differently than for other programs. Should our participation continue? Certainly.
METCO demonstrably adds--at small cost--to Wayland's diversity, not just from a racial perspective but also socio-economically. If anything, the argument could be made to open METCO to all disadvantaged children, not just minorities.
Wayland has participated in METCO since its inception more than 35 years ago. In my opinion, our participation is a good and right thing to do, in the tradition of "Give a man a fish, he eats for a day; teach a man to fish, he eats for life." METCO doesn't give, it teaches.
Thank you.
Class Size | MCAS | METCO | Special Education
If you have any questions or comments, call me at 508-353-3175 or
send me email at dieffenbach @ alum.mit.edu.