ALBANY, NY [NY1] — The New York State Board of Regents is set to vote this week on a proposed Hebrew charter school in Brooklyn. The New York Times says the school would open in the fall if approved.
Under the proposal, the school would start with 150 kindergartners and first graders and be located in District 22 – which encompasses Midwood, Sheepshead Bay, and Mill Basin.
State to Vote on Jewish Hebrew Public School for Brooklyn
ALBANY, NY [NY1] — The New York State Board of Regents is set to vote this week on a proposed Hebrew charter school in Brooklyn. The New York Times says the school would open in the fall if approved.
Under the proposal, the school would start with 150 kindergartners and first graders and be located in District 22 – which encompasses Midwood, Sheepshead Bay, and Mill Basin.
The school, by law, would be open to all children.
Students would receive daily Hebrew lessons and learn Hebrew culture and history.
Some critics worry about how the school will manage separation of church and state.
The city has 81 Department of Education-run schools that offer dual-language programs.
The Arabic-language Khalil Gibran Academy generated heated debate when it opened in the fall of 2007. The school’s founding principal was forced to resign after a controversial interview.
CN
Why does your title call it a “Jewish” Hebrew Public School? The article says very clearly it will be open to anyone, and most of your Jewish readers probably wouldn’t want to send their kids to such a school.
Me
“Some critics worry about how the school will manage separation of church and state.”
The truth is that such a school is in violation of the separation of church and state, and while this may benefit a small number of people, it is setting the precedent for a very slippery slope in which every fundamentalist Islamic and Catholic school will be funded by Joe taxpayer.
in defense of the hebrew public school
as much opposition as anyone can raise for this school not being established, it does have its benifits in the form of an “alternate” to the average public school, that despite separation of church and state, end up having students being influenced by christian/catholic beliefs.
At least this way, if parents can’t be convinced to send their kids to a Jewish school vs. public school, we can work on convincing them to at least transfer their kids to the “hebrew public school” where hebrew cultre as opposed to secular culture (read christian/catholic culture) is being taught.
MJ
This school is necessary. Hopefully, the community will have a voice in how the school is run unlike the typical yeshivas
boruch hoffinger
B”H
They should teach not Hebrew but Loshon HaKodesh. Teach the meanings of the letters and words. It goes very deep. This is everyone’s language. They’ll get a sense of how weak and foolish English (And all languages)are/is next to this universal, creation language.
Then the intelligent will dump ‘The Theory of Evolution.’
constitutional gobbledygook
In response to the “ME” comment about the Hebrew school setting a precedent for a slippery land slide: Unfortunately such an Arabic school has already been opened as well as many Christian, and believe it or not, Spanish schools. So we are not setting any precedent, they’ve set one for us. By the way: nowhere in the United States Constitution do the words “separation of Church and State” appear. This “violation” does not exist. I mean no offense to “ME” but everyone should really be familiar with this stuff in order to be an informed componant of this debate.