The death of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the subsequent rioting in the cities of America has proven to be a great catalyst for Cambridge. Proposals that were bogged down in the political maneuvering of the City Council and school committee have been released in a great flow of legislation designed to avoid a long hot summer.

Roaring through the council went a $14-million appropriation for new elementary schools. Dickering and petty debate over a matter of two thousand dollars for air conditioning seemed to melt away in the heat of burning cities.

The school committee reacted similarly. Quickly renaming the new Houghton school in honor of King, the committee went on to urge Congress to pass the civil rights bill and set up a committee to study race relations in Cambridge. The proposals in the order setting up the committee are revolutionary. Among them are:

* to recommend a definite curriculum at all grade levels to be used during Negro History Week each year.

* to determine what books should be used to cover as extensively as possible the history of race relations in the United States.

* to encourage as many qualified Negroes as possible to apply for positions in the school system.

It would be inaccurate to say that these measures would not have been taken without the death of Martin Luther King Jr. and the subsequent rioting. But the fact remains that it took the flames of discord licking the shoes of the Cambridge pols to make them stop playing at politics and start acting like leaders.