Posted by fair reporting wanted, a resident of another community, on Apr 10, 2009 at 9:33 am

I first wrote this letter as a comment to "Replacement found at Huff" and then sent it as a letter to the editor but apparently they didn't have the nerve to print it. Here it is again.

Hey, MV Voice,

Last night there was a meeting at Huff to introduce the new teacher to the parents. Where were you? Seems to me that would have been an excellent opportunity to interview the parents of this current class. Perhaps, good or bad, you could have gotten a more accurate account of what was going on in Ms Polifrone's room than that of Christine and other unidentified parents. You tried to defend the unfair, one-sided stories that you've printed so far (Why we published the story)but here was a perfect chance to get some other points of view and you missed it. So much for unbiased, balanced reporting. Does your paper do any actual investigative reporting or do you always just sit back and wait for people to bring the stories to you?

Posted by Don Frances, Mountain View Voice Editor, on Apr 10, 2009 at 10:33 am
Don Frances is a member (registered user) of Mountain View Online

We called and asked if you would provide your name on this letter, and you wouldn't, so we didn't run it in print. It's not us who "didn't have the nerve," it's you. The message has run repeatedly on our Web site, however.

As for the substance of your argument -- that we failed to reflect the opinion of parents who like Polifrone -- we did so more than once, as here (Web Link):

Following a story on the teacher in last week's Voice, other parents have come forward to applaud Polifrone's "commitment to the kids." On the Voice's Web site, sentiments on the teacher seemed to be almost evenly split.

"I have known Mrs. P for over nine years," one parent wrote. "My daughter is a student in her class this year, and wants to know when Mrs. P will be back. I have no issues or complaints with her. I volunteer in the class weekly and have not witnessed any of the accusations made. She is a strict teacher but fair."