Trojan Horse

The New York Times reported yesterday about the approval of a Hebrew-language charter school in Brooklyn.  Although there is something hilarious about this that I can't quite put my finger on,  I support the creation of this school as another option for parents.  Of the ten committee members that voted, only one, Dr. Saul Cohen (seriously), voted against:

“It’s a way of getting a good private school with public funds,” Dr. Cohen said.

Dr. Cohen is frustrated that public funds might be used for something akin to a good private school rather than 100% directed towards crappy public schools.  Dr. Cohen also noted that the district is predominantly black, Hispanic, and Asian and, therefore, might not be very interested in learning Hebrew.  I'll let parents make that decision, but, as the Times noted, "the district also includes neighborhoods with many Jewish immigrants from Russia and Israel." 

Perhaps the biggest significance of this new school is that it will draw a new demographic into the charter school political landscape.  Widening the array of voters that directly benefit from charters to include parents-that-want-their-kids-to-learn-Hebrew will help us to fight for better schools for everyone.    

Comments

[Macho]

For me, any charter school is better than no charter school. But this one I particularly like. I am not Jewish, but I have great respect for Judaism which seems to very effectively promote achievement amongst its members. While this school will not be religious, it will allow students to learn the language that will allow them to study the religion in greater depth on their own. In addition, any foreign language school, I think, is an excellent idea. Children will learn English outside of the classroom as a matter of course while growing up in the US, but to learn a foreign language fluently one must learn it as a child.

I know. I currently live in Brazil. And while everyone here marvels at the quality of my Portuguese (which I have painstakingly learned as an adult), it will never be as good as my German or French which I learned with almost no effort as a child.

My opinion may be somewhat biased though. The original writings of the Bible, both old and new testament, are in Hebrew. I have long harbored a curiosity to learn Hebrew well enough to read and study the texts in their original language. If I were a kid, I'd simply go to this new charter school ...