It's About the Future

My parents, like many of my peers, were children of the Great Depression. My dad joined the Navy in his mid-twenties when his father told him it was time for him to leave behind an extended adolescence and grow up. 

A few years later he married my mother and they spent the next several years at various military installations – including Japan after the war - before he was stationed in Newport.

As a child of the military, I was used to changing environments – both physical and social – but the goal was always to get better, not richer but more responsible. Neither parent graduated from high school, but they wanted more for me and my brother, so we were encouraged to strive for excellence.

I wish I could say we did what was expected, but it took both of us longer than usual due to our own independent natures. Nevertheless, they instilled in us a fortitude and a set of principles that have become our guides as we have grown older and – I like to think – wiser.

That frame of reference drives me today. I am saddened by the culture of entitlement that has replaced the willingness to invest in the future.

Life is short and everyone wants to be able to enjoy it while they can. Pinching pennies is not fun, and I would be the first to ensure that those who have spent their lives and resources in Middletown – homesteaders - are enabled to stay in their homes.

However, I will not support a tax benefit for part-timers or for those who earn profit from rental property – short-or long-term.  Profit should not derive at the expense of others.

Further, I do not understand a population that 20 years ago demanded excellence in its schools but is now satisfied with poor test results and a “good enough” program that does not meet the needs of ALL the students.

Where is the vision for the future of this island when our schools provide high level academics for the college-bound but insufficient opportunities for the others to learn marketable skills? 

As an educator for 48 years – and still counting – in 3 states at all levels of instruction and administration, I cannot, in good conscience, say we are providing the best possible education for our young people – unless all we are looking at is money.

We are on the brink of possibilities – not just a new regional facility but also the opportunity to revamp our entire educational program. It’s time for vision. It’s time for commitment. It’s time to put aside differences and explore the possibilities.

How much do you care about the future? What do you want to leave behind?