MAC began in 1969 as the Task Force on Children out of School, dramatically exposing the systematic exclusion of children from the Boston Public Schools. During its forty-year history, MAC has been at the forefront of statewide advocacy efforts to protect and expand the rights of children in urban education reform, special education, and other critical areas, such as mental health, nutrition, lead poisoning prevention, and juvenile justice. MAC’s constituency has always been those children who face the greatest barriers to educational success, due to disability, race/ethnicity, language and/or poverty.

Today MAC continues its strong and effective advocacy for children and families. MAC is an integral part of a statewide network of civil legal aid organizations and a web of child advocacy organizations. MAC is a leader in statewide special education advocacy, the autism community, and education reform in the Boston Public School system. MAC has pioneered an innovative approach to education reform through its groundbreaking policy analysis and advocacy to help traumatized children learn.

With education reform continuing to occupy a high priority on the state’s policy agenda, and with the severe economic crisis facing Massachusetts families, MAC is needed more than ever.