Gov. Michael S. Dukakis, saying “the time has come to extend the concept of choice,” last week proposed a measure that would allow Massachusetts parents to send their children to schools across district boundaries.
But the state House dealt the proposal a severe blow by eliminating in its budget the $750,000 the Governor had requested for it.
The state education department developed the plan after Mr. Dukakis’s veto last summer of a more limited choice plan sponsored by the Senate majority leader.
Under the new proposal, districts that elected to participate would have to submit to the department plans for receiving out-of-district students.
Such plans should “ensure that students will be moving from the suburbs to the city schools, not just from the city to suburbs,” Governor Dukakis said.
