METCO was developed during a period of activism by Boston Black parents, primarily mothers, to achieve educational equity through school desegregation. In 1963, the Boston branch of the NAACP demanded that the School Committee of Boston Public Schools acknowledge de facto segregation and commit to a series of reforms. The demands were presented by the chair of the Education Committee of the NAACP, activist Ruth Batson. A series of protests, including sit-ins, boycotts, and a self-funded desegregation program within the city called Operation Exodus achieved publicity. However, the Boston Public Schools continued to either deny that racial disparities existed, or to deny responsibility for them.