Flynn's advisor Guiney believes the school system bureaucracy is opposing the controlled choice plan because the workers think their jobs are being threatened. She says, "Name any bureaucracy. They don't like to change. I bet Harvard University doesn't even like to change."

No interest groups, however, claim to represent the bureaucracy. According to O'Bryant, the School Committee voted Tuesday night to approve the general idea of school-based management. And McKinnis says, "Parents would like to have things decentralized." Even School Superintendent Wilson is working on his own decentralization plan, according to Ian Forman, Wilson's public information officer.

The Mayor and the School Committee

This debate about the bureaucratic opposition to the desegregation plan is closely linked to Flynn's ongoing battle with the elected School Committee.

Flynn recently created an advisory panel to look into whether the School Committee members should continue to be elected, and that body concluded that an appointed school board would more effectively serve Boston's educational interests.

But while the School Committee continues to remain an elective body, the mayor is considering placing a referendum on the ballot next November that would change the current system. Until then, however, the mayor and his advisers continue to use the dispute about the desegregation plan to highlight their objections to the current School Committee.

Guiney argues that the controversy over minority involvement in the formation of the plan is a case study of the elected School Committee's ineffectiveness. "It certainly does call into question the School Committee's viability as a body which works together," she says. "The Black School Committee member who made the charge met five or six times with the consultants."

But School Committee members charge that an elected body is more democratic, despite the struggles with Flynn. O'Reilley argues, "A School Committee elected by districts is the type of group that will make noise...The School Committee should be the community's advocate for education, [even if] there may be an adversarial relationship [with the mayor]."

The Funding Fight

As the mayor and the School Committee continue to struggle for political control over educational policy, though, an even more serious obstacle to the controlled choice plan compounds the problem.

Black members of the School Committee and parents advocacy groups such as the Citywide Parents Council refuse to endorse the plan until it includes more money to improve the quality of the schools.

Their argument is that a student assignment plan doesn't address the more central question of education. O'Bryant says, "If you're talking about moving children, you're not talking about an educational activity. If you're talking about giving people choice, you have to give them something to choose."

But Guiney argues that school assignment and budget issues are separate. She says, "This wasn't a budget document for the Boston Public Schools which assessed and weighed all plans. This was a student assignment plan...[The mayor] is willing to talk about [money], but only within the context of the school budget."

This conflict reflects the underlying power struggle between the School Committee and Flynn. Calling for more money may be part of representing parents, but is also affords an opportunity for minority members to stake out their own political ground.

The money question also reflects on the fears of minorities that they aren't being heard. McKinnis says, "Parents have been waiting for quality education. That is the number one issue for parents." So if the School Committee fails to include additional funding, the accusation can again be leveled that the group did not listen to the "plaintiffs."