I read with interest a recent letter to the editor on the article pertaining to the Cupertino Union School District recall. I totally disagree with the author, who suggested that the Courier be relegated to the tabloid section of supermarket checkout stands. I would put it next to the doughnut and coffee counter so that otherwise hurried and harried residents could remain not only informed of community issues but be better entertained than with a comparatively mild tabloid.

I found it curious that the author of the letter felt compelled to address "those who have come from faraway places to attend Cupertino schools and are disappointed by the boundary change."

Could it be possible that concerns expressed in the article transcend immigration to our community as well as the boundary issue? Whether that is the case or not, the letter merely attacks those who dare to voice concerns about the district and expresses indignation that the Courier didn't simply dismiss the criticisms as being illegitimate.

The recall issue pales in comparison to the budget crisis, which makes maintaining the current personnel and curriculum a challenge even before Measure C facility additions.

Personally, I am less concerned about the putative "special interest" group behind the recall than I am about the possibility of the school district being beholden to the private special interest groups that its funding is becoming increasingly dependent on.

Having "immigrated" here from Texas, I don't know if that qualifies me as being from a faraway place, but when observing some of the boundary change proceedings, I did notice that the criterion of disrupting existing boundaries as little as possible became a priority.

Regardless of the final outcome, the process demonstrated the difficulty of implementing district solutions within the constraints of alienating as few voters and benefactors as possible.

It's not really the district's fault that school funding is so convoluted and inadequate, but I would hope that the aspirations of public education don't deteriorate to a quasi-private system that exacerbates inequities not only between individual schools but between districts as well.

—Ann Shirkey, Cupertino

Connecting with our hometown troops

As a weekly newspaper, The Courier does not have a fast enough turn around time nor the resources to be covering the Iraqi war and the controversy surrounding it in a timely way. We are, however, the community's newspaper and want very much to reflect in some heartfelt way what residents in Cupertino are experiencing as this war wages on. In that vein, we would like to print names and short profiles as well as pictures of anyone from Cupertino who is serving in Iraq. You are certainly welcome to use our letters-to-the editor section as a forum to express your pride and your concerns about the war. We will make every effort to print them all.

—Sandy Sims, Editor