The Bentleg Solution

The busing controversy in Boston has had one redemptive, if indirect, effect. It has run interference for another program with similar ambitions, allowing it to incubate undisturbed, free from the pressures of national exposure. That program has now cut its teeth, and it is time for us to take a long hard look at the Whole Student Transfer Program of Bentleg, Minnesota.

At the helm of this imaginative experiment is the Honorable U. Princeton Welles of the Minnesota District Court system. Judge Welles saw the writing on the wall two years ago when Boston started its busing program. He knew that the little city of Bentleg, the seat of his district, had a bit of adjusting to do integrationwise. For years the Bentleg schools had been segregated, and though this was not malicious in intent, reflecting as it did housing patterns, Judge Welles wasn’t taking any chances. Nevertheless, he also had grave doubts about busing.

JM

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Joseph P. McGrath

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The busing controversy in Boston has had one redemptive, if indirect, effect. It has run interference for another program with similar ambitions, allowing it to incubate undisturbed, free from the pressures of national exposure. That program has now cut its teeth, and it is time for us to take a long hard look at the Whole Student Transfer Program of Bentleg, Minnesota.

At the helm of this imaginative experiment is the Honorable U. Princeton Welles of the Minnesota District Court system. Judge Welles saw the writing on the wall two years ago when Boston started its busing program. He knew that the little city of Bentleg, the seat of his district, had a bit of adjusting to do integrationwise. For years the Bentleg schools had been segregated, and though this was not malicious in intent, reflecting as it did housing patterns, Judge Welles wasn’t taking any chances. Nevertheless, he also had grave doubts about busing.