I wonder why people always forget about bikes ... It's always "these people don't have cars, bus is inconvenient and it's too far for walking". If they simply went by bike, it would take them 10-15 minutes to get from Castro to Moffett. That should do it, no?

Why not just hand out Sesame Street videos? Let big bird teach them

Obviously the “free” English as a Second Language (ESL) class at Castro Elementary School for local parents isn’t free. The Mountain View elementary district is short $2.6 million for the next 17 months. The high school district faces $2 million in reductions over the next 17 months, and approximately $1.3 million of this will come from the Adult School. Kit Miller a teacher started a petition to keep and continue the ESL class at Castro Elementary School. How will a petition create funds that aren’t there from the school districts?

In the MV-Voice report a student, who currently attends the “free” ESL class, says she has no time to commute by bus to Moffett Boulevard every day. The student said, “She drops her three children off at Castro in the morning, and needs to be back by 11:15 a.m. to pick the youngest up from preschool”. Why doesn’t this particular parent/student show by example to her children how important a “free” education is by making sacrifices and attend classes at the Adult School campus. Rosa is the epitome of the Latino/Latina educational gap that exists in America. If school is too hard, don’t attend. This country offers the tools to succeed, it’s up to each individual to access and use the tools to succeed.

I am an immigrant to the U.S.A and I came to this country with the hopes that my hard work, determination and sacrifices will benefit my family. It has! The hardships my family and I endured to educate ourselves make the successes we have sweeter.

BTW, why do editors of the Voice rename the headlines of stories when the blogs don't support the views/agendas of the Voice. Your actions to rename the stories are shameful. Please don't be cowards.

"Sacrifice to succeed," what on earth are you talking about? Which blogs? (I'd love to see them.)

Story headlines are occasionally rewritten to reflect developments in the story, or to fit better on the screen, or just to be more accurate. To my knowledge no Voice headline was ever written or rewritten to kowtow to "the blogs."

Advice: don't anonymously call people cowards. Looks bad.

Don your advice to me is correct to not call the Voice editors cowards. The more appropriate description of the Voice editors that change/rewrite the articles is deceivers. I appreciate the way you conveniently wrote to CYA, “Story headlines are occasionally rewritten to reflect developments in the story, or to fit better on the screen, or just to be more accurate”. Nice touch but what a load of BS. The Voice blogs limit the number of web links so Don I have to reply to your challenge in multiple blog entries.

You asked for examples of blogs that have changed, here you go Don, Part 1:
Next in line to be cut: ESL class at Castro - Uploaded: Thursday, April 23, 2009, 11:19 AM
Web Link
Next in line to be cut: ESL class at Castro - News - Friday, April 24, 2009
Web Link
Next in line to be cut: ESL class at Castro - posted by Editor, Mountain View Voice Online, on Apr 25, 2009 at 11:59 pm
Web Link

Essentially the Voice’s version of “rewriting” articles is a shell game and/or smoke and mirrors (the Bush Administration used the same tactics). I’m confident if I look back further, I’d find more stories that were “rewritten” by the Voice editors. However the examples above will suffice.

Part 2 to Don Frances' challenge.

Another example of blogs that have changed on the Voice:
National group targets local Day Worker Center - Uploaded: Tuesday, April 14, 2009, 1:22 PM
Web Link">Web Link
National group targets local Day Worker Center – News - Friday, April 17, 2009
Web Link
National group targets local Day Worker Center – posted by Editor, Mountain View Voice Online, on Apr 14, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Web Link
National group targets local Day Worker Center – Uploaded: Tuesday, April 14, 2009, 1:22 PM
Web Link">Web Link
National group targets local Day Worker Center – Uploaded: Tuesday, April 14, 2009, 1:22 PM
Web Link

Part 3 to Don Frances' challenge.

Another example of blogs that have changed on the Voice:
Feds say Lozano's bilked workers - News - Friday, April 10, 2009
Web Link
Feds say Lozano's bilked workers – posted by Editor, Mountain View Voice Online, on Apr 3, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Web Link
Feds say Lozano's bilked workers – Uploaded: Friday, April 3, 2009, 12:07 PM
Web Link
Feds say Lozano's bilked workers – posted by Editor, Mountain View Voice Online, on Apr 11, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Web Link

Essentially the Voice’s version of “rewriting” articles is a shell game and/or smoke and mirrors (the Bush Administration used the same tactics). I’m confident if I look back further, I’d find more stories that were “rewritten” by the Voice editors. However the examples above will suffice.

When I read articles that promote going out of the way to help illegal immigrants with tax payer dollars, such as the ESL classes at Castro, I’m compelled to speak out against such use of taxes. With the present economic environment helping U.S. citizens and legal immigrants should be paramount. It’s also important to acknowledge the beautiful city of Mountain View is starting to deteriorate. It’s becoming a de-facto sanctuary city, quite possibly turning into another East Palo Alto or very similar (high crime rates, horrible schools, etc.).

The Voice should print and allow blogs for both sides of any article that makes it on the paper or the website. I hope the Voice and its staff will uphold, in my opinion at least, the most important Amendment of the Constitution, the First Amendment.

"Sacrifice":

I'm not sure what you think you've discovered here. You have provided links to different versions of the same stories. The ones that say "Uploaded" went directly onto our Web site's main page. The ones that say "News" are duplicates from our print editions (Web Link and the ones that say "Posted by" point to the Town Square comment threads on those stories, like the one we're communicating on right now.

More to the point, the headlines on all these examples are either identical or near identical. So what's your point? Also, I don't think you know what the word "blog" means.

In short, you've got me and everybody else completely befuddled.

If you want to post your opinion about ESL classes or anything else, you can -- in fact, you just did.

Don you’ve proved my point.