Why Do Some Chariho Grads Not Support Our Schools?

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The following letter was published in local newspapers and is shared with us here by the author Michael Chambers. Michael is a member of the Charlestown Economic Improvement Commission and a former member of the Charlestown Zoning Board of Review.


I am constantly amazed at the lack of fealty demonstrated by some acknowledged graduates of Chariho High School to their alma mater. They are a subset that proudly proclaim that they graduated from Chariho as they propose to cut the school system’s budget, programs and staff. I did not graduate from Chariho, so I don’t know why this school’s graduates are willing to undercut educational benefits to their children and their neighbors’ children. I have heard (ad nauseam ) the excuse that people cannot afford to educate their children in the public school system. They cannot absorb a 2.5% increase in the cost of running the schools. In many cases I find this attitude disingenuous. As graduates of Chariho these same people should be working to encourage teachers, administrators and staff to continue the level of excellence that this school has attained. This is not the case with many of today’s Chariho graduates.

When I graduated from high school, I couldn’t wait to get out and move on to higher education. In some instances I moved on to more education, not higher education. This seeming contradiction between college and high school only emphasized the quality of education I received in high school. I came to understand that the K-12 years are the most important learning opportunities children have. My wife and I encouraged our children to take advantage of their formative years at their schools. We worked unceasingly to attract investment into our children’s schools. Where are these graduates from Chariho who want to cut the school’s budget when fundraisers are needed?

Chariho provides this area’s children with that opportunity; not only to learn but to build a solid foundation for social and intellectual advancement. However, as in many cases, such a foundation may have crumbled at graduation.

To this day I am in full support of a good education. I have benefited from an excellent elementary and high school experience. I owe so much to that education even though there were days I thought I was wasting my time. It seems that there are Chariho graduates still living in the region that have children attending the same school system, who are working to chip away at the foundation of their school system and, in essence, chip away at their children’s educational opportunities.

Michael Chambers