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) and its president (1977). She played a role in the desegregation of the Boston public schools. Early life and education Sullivan Alioto is the daughter of Billy Sullivan, founder and long-time owner of the New England Patriots. She grew up outside Boston. She graduated from Manhattanville College. 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, where she taught children with behavioral issues. While serving on the School Committee, Sullivan Alioto earned her doctorate at Harvard. 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. 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