Associated Press – September 11, 2007
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A charter school may resume teaching in Hebrew, more three weeks after the lessons were halted over concerns the Jewish faith was seeping into public classrooms, the school board voted Tuesday.
Broward County board members said close monitoring of the country’s first Hebrew-language charter school is still necessary, but that its administrators had cleared up major concerns.
The school district will work with the Ben Gamla Charter School in Hollywood to create training programs for teachers and board members to ensure the separation of church and state, Schools Superintendent James Notter. Lesson plans will be submitted monthly for district review.
“We have asked this charter school to do a lot of different things,” said board chair Beverly Gallagher. “As far as I can see, they have done everything that we have asked them.”
The school can teach about the Jewish faith, but cannot advocate it. Hebrew instruction is to resume Monday.
“We never considered crossing that line,” said school founder Peter Deutsch, a former Democratic congressman.
Ben Gamla’s roughly 400 students in kindergarten through eighth grades follow the state curriculum, but also are to take a Hebrew language course. One of their core subjects – math or physical education, for example – is to be taught bilingually as well.
The school only taught Hebrew for three days before classes were halted last month. Since, they have used the time allotted for language instruction to teach Israeli geography and Jewish history and culture.
Michael Gerson, a Coral Springs man whose 6-year-old daughter Julia goes to Ben Gamla, said he felt the debate helped strengthen the curriculum. He said he was glad his daughter would begin learning Hebrew again just after the start of the Jewish New Year.
“That’s all we wanted,” he said. “We didn’t want them to teach them religion.”
Deutsch plans additional Ben Gamla locations in South Florida and in New York and Los Angeles. The school takes its name from a Jewish high priest.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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posted September 11, 2007 at 8:06 pm
This is simular to the charter school in NY, where they will be teaching in Arabic, as well as English. This school will be teaching in Hebrew as well as English. As long as there is no religion being taught (in either school)then there is no problem.
Sounds like a good way to learn a new language, perhaps easier than just taking another language in high school.
posted September 11, 2007 at 10:12 pm
This has been on B’net before. Apparently there will be no religious instruction, just Hebrew in anticipation of Jewsih instruction after school. The point of Charter Schools is to provide alternatives. I know there are some Christian Charter schools, so why not!
posted September 11, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Because Jewish believers are particularly prone to proselytizing???
I’m sorry, but this is just silly.
posted September 12, 2007 at 12:12 am
Anonymous Sept 11, 10:21
I think any attempts by Jews at proselytizing pretty much comes to a screeching halt at the first metnion of no more cheeseburgers. If anyone makes it past that, they aren’t likely to get beyond the discussion about circumcision.
posted September 12, 2007 at 12:58 am
Christian charter schools? At public expense? I hope not! Hebrew is a language, Arabic is a language, Christianity is a religion.
posted September 12, 2007 at 3:07 pm
I do not believe there are any Christian charter schools, at least not in the state in which I live.
What there are are Christian schools that have a charter from the state because they agree to meet certain standards, but the state does not give them any money. There are also Christian schools which accept money from the state to fund secular textbooks and non-religious classes. Such schools are strictly forbidden to use any of these state monies for religious instruction or activities. They are accountable to the state for the use of the monies thus allocated to them.
The school in which I taught for ten years was chartered by the state, and we met the requirements of the state, but we did not accept any money whatsoever from the state. We wanted to offer a credible education, but we did not want to have any restrictions placed upon our teaching of Christian principles in our classes.
posted September 12, 2007 at 5:07 pm
I cant understand why we KEEP jumping.. every time some thing has the slightest hint of Religion in it? or maybe COULD. we are not supposed to separate religion FROM THE STATE only keep it from being ONE religion backed BY the state and some thing folks forget.. the law was made to prevent the GOVERNMENT from controlling religious groups and free practice OF religion.NOT prevent schools from allowing persons to have RELIGION expressed In the schools. I can understand a Charter school being careful, but what if this same school.. teaching Hebrew or the one in New York teaching Arabic.. taught also a religion class? like Comparative religion? or BIBLE as History.. since the 3 primary religions.. all use largely the same book? i am sure some one would have a heart attack over that too? what if the charter allowed for each school to choose its OWN religion to be taught.. then CHARTERS cant be said to back any ONE , but allow teaching of any one in any charter that THE BOARD wanted? that way it could not be support of ONE over another in the long range but allow for schools to have it as they please? this is not SEPARATION OF CHURCH FROM STATE.. its the separation of CONTROL OF STATE over religion. Charter as a entity could allow religious study with out backing any one and allow any and each to chose which one.. NOT FORCING any one group to adhere to it.. they can chose to go to this charter or that charter. i am sure that opens the Can for some one.. what do you all think?
FWJ
posted September 12, 2007 at 8:27 pm
Fwj, I don’t think anyone would have a heart attack over a comparative religion class as long as it wasn’t a class to support one religion at government expense. I hope you can see supporting a religion at government expense (i.e. your and my expense) is a problem.