Chatham prides itself on its schools.

Chatham receives a strong flow of School Choice students from other communities, many if not most from neighboring Harwich. Chatham must be doing something right.

Chatham doesn't stint on pay. Its superintendent is one of the highest paid. Indeed, the Chatham superintendent is reported to be paid more than the superintendent of the Nauset school system, which is four times larger. Chatham teachers are well-paid, too.

So it’s somewhat surprising to see the results of the 2008 Massachusetts MCAS rankings for the 10th Grade:

---------------------------English Math Science---------------Great Schools rating for High School

Nauset--------------- ----7----------22--------17-------------------------------------------- 10
Harwich---------------- 27---------15--------36-------------------------------------------- 10
Chatham--------------182--------118-------36----------------------------------------------6

http://www.boston.com/news/special/education/mcas/scores08/10th_top_districts.htm

www.greatschools.net.

For the difficult FY10 that begins July 1, both Nauset and Harwich schools have cut budgets and trimmed some staff to ease the burden on stressed taxpayers. Chatham schools stand firm, demanding more money in the FY10 budget.