Posted by MI supporter, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on May 22, 2007 at 12:22 pm

not enough time for public forums and debate? where have these concerned parents been for the past year?!

no proof of cost neutrality? do they not trust the feasibility study done by palo alto staff? do the staff have motivation to do a bogus study so that they can implement something that will fail and get them fired? do they not trust the experiences of spanish immersion and numerous programs throughout the state and country that prove cost neutrality? or are they simply unwilling to believe what they don't wish to hear?

Posted by still watching, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on May 22, 2007 at 4:20 pm

Maybe the real issue isn't as measureable as cost or efficacy \, maybe it's about something harder to understand like the overall impact on the character of our schools. The question as I see it is what happens to the strength of neighborhood schools when special interest groups get segregate themselves rather than live with diversity.

Posted by mom, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on May 22, 2007 at 4:59 pm

MI supporter,

Maybe you should stop asking questions and start listening to the answers. Or are you "simply unwilling to believe what [you] don't wish to hear" as you so nicely put it.

NO, no, no, a thousand times, no. We do not trust the feasibility study. It made notable cost omissions some of which MI supporters have even owned up to, but they continue to cry "cost neutrality". The study made no actual cost accounting, and the study wasn't particularly enlightening or thorough. It was neither a thorough nor a trust-inspiring document.

I do trust the experience of numerous language immersion programs across the country that teach fluency without being so resource intensive or requiring a separate school as this proposal does. Too bad MI supporters don't trust any of them and don't trust the process of diplomacy and compromise.

The problems brought up by Spanish immersion opponents when that program began were never addressed -- once they got theirs, they kind of forgot about addressing the concerns of the community -- so it's coming back to haunt the MI people.