Last year I spent about 6 months researching the history of the governance of the Boston School Committee (1974-1996). I sifted through documents from @ArchivesBoston, read years worth of news coverage, academic research, & read every book I could find on the subject. 1/24

When the history of the Boston School Committee is studied w/o adhering to the dominant narrative that the board was a racist body that had to be abolished, a far different narrative of disenfranchisement of Boston’s Black community emerges (2/24)

We hear so much about “the bad old days” of the Boston School Committee of the 60’s & 70’s: Louise Day Hicks, Pixie Palladino, rampant patronage...It's all true, but by 1981, the BSC had radically changed. Both John D. O’Bryant & Jean McGuire were elected to the board (3/24)

In 1981, Boston voters also passed 2 ballot questions to change the School Committee & City Council from 5 members elected at-large to 7 elected by district & 4 at-large. 95% of Black voters supported this bcuz the at-large structure made it difficult for minorities to be elected

These new governance changes took effect in 1983, and Boston elected the most diverse school committee in its history – 3 Black members & 1 Afro-Latina. Two years later, the board selected the 1st Black superintendent of BPS (5/24) See video: http://bostonlocaltv.org/catalog/V_LTBN2KY5BAJWZRX

Much of the patronage of the 60’s & 70’s was resolved by Judge Garrity’s strict oversight of BSC. The continued judicial occupation frustrated Flynn – letters revealing the tension dated back to the 70’s. Flynn appointed himself an ex-officio member & asked Garrity to get out (6)

Flynn was under immense pressure from the Boston Compact, the Private Industry Council, the Vault, & @ResearchBureau1 to change the governance structure of the BSC. Gridlock over the BSC’s failure to adopt a new assignment system to replace Garrity's frustrated Flynn & others (7)

In 1989, the mayor’s ‘Special Advisory Committee on School Reform’ recommended an appointed board as one of the options for reform. @ResearchBureau1 & the city’s elite power brokers pushed for the change & a non-binding referendum was put on the Nov '89 ballot (8/24)

School committee member John Nucci noted: “Asking the voters of Boston to choose between the status quo, which isn’t working, and giving up their right to vote, which is very dangerous, is forcing them to choose the lesser of two very evil evils.” (9/24)
http://bostonlocaltv.org/catalog/V_RG33AAY5HGFFX61

Jack Robinson of the National Association of Black Americans was a leader on the 'NO' side. At the launch of the campaign Robinson said “With blacks & minorities fighting and dying all over the world for this precious right, Boston's blacks are being sold a bill of goods." 10/24

Also on the 'NO' side: Mel King, Charles Yancey, Gloria Fox, Shirley Owens-Hicks & Nelson Merced who formed The Committee for Real Change. The group was angry that the recent change to district representation which helped more Blacks get elected was being dismantled so soon (11)

On the 'YES' side, Flynn’s Better Education Committee had significant financial & operational backing from the Vault, a powerful Boston business group that gave almost $150K to the campaign. They dumped thousands into TV ads in the final days of the campaign (12/24)

On November 7,1989, a non-binding referendum to change the Boston School Committee from a 13 member elected board to a 7 member appointed body passed with a razor-thin margin of 1.5%. Due to the ballot question's lukewarm reception by voters Flynn shelved the idea for months (13)

In Flynn’s neighborhood of South Boston the measure was defeated 2 to 1. African American voters in Mattapan, Roxbury, and Dorchester (Wards 9, 12, & 14) voted overwhelmingly against the referendum. In total, 37% voted YES, 36% voted NO, & 26% left the question blank (14/24)

The results showed deep class divides. 67% of voters in Beacon Hill’s Ward 5 voted YES, while 69% of South Boston’s Ward 6 voted NO. Neighborhoods w/large numbers of families–East Boston, Charlestown, South Boston, Roxbury, Mattapan, & parts of Dorchester – also voted NO (15/24)

Although momentum for an appointed committee stalled for almost a year because of the lackluster performance on the ballot, it was resurrected in August 1990 when Councilor Michael McCormack introduced a home-rule petition for a 7 member board appointed by the mayor (16/24)

For months, the city council battled over the issue w/ disagreements along racial lines. Councilor Yancey called the idea “a real assault on democracy.” The council passed several alternate plans, from hybrid, to elected w/fiscal autonomy, to abolishing the board altogether (17)

Several of these plans made it to the State House but failed to pass due to opposition from the Black Legislative Caucus or poisoned pills in the legislation. Senator Bill Owens of Roxbury said, “If it goes through the senate, I will resign.” (18/24)

In April 1991, the City Council & Mayor Flynn passed the measure for a 7 member body. On Beacon Hill, heavy lobbying by the Vault & members of the clergy helped seal the deal; it passed the Senate in June 1991 & Governor Weld in July 1991. The 1st appointed committee: Dec '91

Boston voters revisited the issue on the ballot in 1996. Menino’s campaign to retain the appointed school committee spent over $600,000. Ironically, notoriously racist former school committee member Elvira “Pixie” Palladino endorsed the appointed Boston committee (20/24)

In November 1996, Boston voters opted to keep the appointed board. But in the predominantly Black Wards of 12 (Roxbury/Grove Hall) & 14 (Mattapan), 57% of voters supported the return to an elected school committee (21/24)

After the busing era in Boston, entrenched white parents somehow felt like THEY were on the "losing" end of desegregation. It's no surprise that this painful era ended w/the disenfranchisement of the Black community, who had finally found a toehold into political power (22/24)

When you examine the progression & subsequent REGRESSION of civil rights Boston Public Schools, you see that this disenfranchisement was part of a larger local & national backlash to roll back the advancements of the Brown v. Board (23/24)

Hubie Jones, 1 of the architects of the appointed school committee said, “We’ll go back to an elected school committee someday, because these things are cyclical” After racist comments by the BSC Chair, we have come full circle & it's time to return democracy to the people FINI

I'm going to reply with a serious of interviews, mostly with John D. O'Bryant. It really helps to explain the shift of Black political power brought about by the change to a district structure:
https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth-oai:dv141628w

In this one, school committee members talk about adding public comment to their meetings and the improvements offered by the new governance structure https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip_345-22v41qxn

I know I said FINI but I forgot one incredible, heartbreaking point: I interviewed one of the founders of 1996 Campaign for an Elected School Committee. He told me that John O'Bryant continued to fight for an elected committee until his dying breath in 1992...