Ohrenberger and Logue Denounce Re-aligning Plan

Redrawing school district lines will only temporarily relieve racial imbalance in Boston's public schools, Edward J. Logue, director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority said yesterday.

Logue was one of 27 subpoenaed persons who testified at Fanueil Hall as part of a United States Civil Rights Commission public hearing on the extent and effect of racial isolation in Boston public schools.

Bussing to Suburbs

The only "enduring solution" to the problem, Logue said would be the bussing of children into suburban cities and towns. He claimed that there were 25 school systems within 40 minutes driving time of Boston, and that these systems could accommodate 8000 non-white Boston school children.

Logue condemned as "irresponsible and misleading" a Massachusetts Board of Education proposal that the Boston School Committee alleviate racial imbalance by redrawing school district lines. He suggested that a shifting population pattern would require the district lines to be redrawn quite frequently.

Ohrenberger

William H. Ohrenberger, superintendent of Boston schools, argued along the same lines earlier in the day. Redrawing district lines Ohrenberger said "would be like building the foundations of school organization on quicksand; necessitating the continuous shifting of white and non-white children."

But Ohrenberger refused to admit that racially imbalanced schools were educationally harmful. As part of his testimony Ohrenberger submitted a 75-page report which he said revealed that current school department policies and programs provided "every child in this city ... with every opportunity to develop his abilities to the fullest."