Hicks ran successfully for the Boston School Committee in 1961, presenting herself as a reform candidate. Although her own children attended parochial schools (private Catholic schools), her campaign slogan was "The only mother on the ballot". In January 1963, she became the committee chairperson and seemed likely to be endorsed by the leading reform group when, in June, the Boston chapter of the NAACP demanded "an immediate public acknowledgment of "de facto" segregation in the Boston public school system." At the time, 13 city schools were at least 90% black.