Kathleen Sullivan Alioto

Kathleen Sullivan Alioto (born June 20, 1944) is an American educator and politician who served on the Boston School Committee as a member (1974–79)[1] and its president (1977).[2] She played a role in the desegregation of the Boston public schools.[3][4]

Kathleen Sullivan Alioto
Chairperson of the Boston School Committee
In office
1977–1977
Preceded byJohn J. McDonough
Succeeded byDavid Finnegan
Personal details
BornJune 20, 1944
Washington, DC
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Joseph Alioto
Children2
ResidenceSan Francisco, California
Alma materManhattanville College
Harvard University, Ed.D
OccupationEducator
Politician fundraiser

Early life and education

Sullivan Alioto is the daughter of Billy Sullivan, founder and long-time owner of the New England Patriots.[5] She grew up outside Boston.[6]

She graduated from Manhattanville College.[7] She has a doctorate from Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Boston School Committee

Sullivan Alioto taught school for six years before being elected to the School Committee, first as a teacher of disabled children in Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant, then at the John Marshall School in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood,[6] where she taught children with behavioral issues.[7][8] While serving on the School Committee, Sullivan Alioto earned her doctorate at Harvard.[9] She is credited with having been a dedicated member of the School Committee (an elected, unpaid job,) Sullivan Alioto worked full-time to improve the quality of the school.[10][11][9][7][8][12][13]

Sullivan Alioto was regarded as the "most liberal" of the five members of the Boston School Committee when, in December 1974, it voted 3-2 to refuse to comply with the order of Federal District Judge Wendell Arthur Garrity Jr. to desegregate the Boston Public Schools.[14] At the height of the School Committee debates over whether to comply with the Federal Court order to desegregate the Boston Public Schools, in 1974 and 1975, Kerrigan was the leading liberal on the committee, as described in Newsday by reporter John Treen, "the argument is between Kerrigan and Sullivan. Sullivan is the most liberal of the Committee, Kerrigan the most vocally conservative. Kerrigan accuses Sullivan of questioning an appointment... Sullivan explodes."[15][13]

The University of Massachusetts, Boston, in a report as part of its Collaborative History of Segragation in Boston, described Sullivan Alioto as "an outsider" who "entered the Boston School Committee in 1974 and completely challenged the status quo, altering the committee for the better. ... By taking a look at Kathleen Sullivan’s role in the move to desegregate Boston Public Schools, we gain an often overlooked narrative because of how she did not quite fit in with her contemporaries at the time."[6]

Sullivan Alioto was succeeded on the school committee by her sister, Jean Sullivan McKeigue.

Later career

She was a Democratic Party primary election candidate for the United States Senate in Massachusetts in 1978, finishing third.[16][17]

Sullivan Alioto served as executive director of the Foundation of the City College of San Francisco.[18][19] In 2016, Sullivan Alioto was a member of an advisory panel that recommended that the federal Department of Education sever ties with the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools because the group was accrediting predatory and fraudulent for-profit colleges.[20]

Personal life

From 1974 to 1976, Sullivan Alioto dated the then-closeted Barney Frank. In April 1976, Sullivan Alioto's father suggested that, while she was attending a convention in San Francisco, she have lunch with former San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto.[21] She and Alioto married in 1978 and remained together until his death in 1998.[5] Because Alioto was divorced, the wedding was performed by excommunicated Catholic priest and activist Joseph O'Rourke.[22]

Sullivan Alioto has two children, Patrick Joseph Sullivan Alioto[23] and Domenica Alioto.[24]

References
  1. McLaughlin, Jeff (November 7, 1973). "Teacher Kathy Sullivan learns how to win". Boston Globe. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  2. Cohen, Muricl (January 26, 1977). "Boston school board picks Sullivan as chairwoman". Boston Globe. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  3. Cottle, Thomas (July 1975). "A March of Desegregation". Urban Education. 10 (2): 115. doi:10.1177/0042085975102001. S2CID 145234930.
  4. Beck; Linden; Siegel (1980). "Identifying school desegregation leadership styles". The Journal of Negro Education. 49 (2): 115. doi:10.2307/2294961. JSTOR 2294961.
  5. "Senate Candidate Alioto Pregnant". Associated Press. July 25, 1978. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  6. Haberny, Monica. "Kathleen Sullivan: "That Girl" Who Shook Things Up · Stark & Subtle Divisions: A Collaborative History of Segregation in Boston". UMass Boston.
  7. Cohen, Muriel (27 January 1977). "The Sullivan 'girl' now has clout and a batting average to prove it". Boston Globe. ProQuest 746944009.
  8. Surkin, Carol (16 September 1975). "The diligent Miss Sullivan". Boston Globe.
  9. Cohen, Muriel (19 February 1974). "City schools are Kathleen Sullivan's lessons". Boston Globe. ProQuest 746878125.
  10. "Miss Sullivan urges education, not numbers". Boston Globe. 19 December 1974. ProQuest 612933446.
  11. DelGiudice, Marguerite (9 November 1977). "An elated Kathleen Sullivan has 39,593 reasons to smile". Boston Globe. ProQuest 747077880.
  12. "Kathleen Sullivan puts pressure on business". Boston Globe. 25 May 1975. ProQuest 747756954.
  13. Kifner, John (23 December 1975). "Boston Politics and Patronage Playing Big Role in Complex Maneuvering in the School Desegregation Fight (reported story)". New York Times. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  14. Kifner, John (17 December 1974). "JUDGE IN BOSTON DEFIED ON BUSING: School Committee Refuses, 3-2, to Approve Staff Plan for City Desegregation Judge in Boston Is Defied on Busing Plan". New York Times. ProQuest 120154694.
  15. Treen, John (11 September 1975). "Boston School Committee Fights On (reported story)". Newsday. ProQuest 922690115.
  16. "Our Campaigns - MA US Senate- D Primary Race - Sep 19, 1978". www.ourcampaigns.com.
  17. "Senate Candidate Alioto Pregnant". Associated Press. July 25, 1978. Retrieved June 11, 2011.
  18. Epstein, Edward (25 April 2001). "$8.5 million donation to City College / Kinko's founder supports child care". San Francisco Chronicle.
  19. Schevitz, Tanya (10 March 2008). "Community colleges hunt for private cash". San Francisco Chronicle.
  20. Kerr, Jennifer; Binkley, Collin (2 June 2016). "Panel votes against accreditor of for-profit colleges". Associated Press. ProQuest 1799573300.
  21. Weisberg, Stuart E. (2009). Barney Frank: The Story of America's Only Left-handed, Gay, Jewish Congressman. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press. p. 128. ISBN 978-1558497214.
  22. "Alioto Weds Kathleen Sullivan But Ex-Wife Claims It's Invalid - Priest Excommunicated". The Blade (Toledo). February 28, 1978. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  23. "Former mayor is father at 62". Associated Press. February 19, 1979. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  24. "Daughter born to Alioto". Associated Press. May 20, 1981. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
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