Meanwhile, across the river they are having much more success. A Hebrew Immersion charter school got all the necessary approvals to open in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan. Too bad NJ residents are not eligible to attend.
Hebrew-language charter school in N.Y.’s Harlem gets go-ahead
NEW YORK (JTA) -- A Hebrew-language charter school approved for the Harlem neighborhood of New York is scheduled to open in the fall of 2013.
The Harlem Hebrew Language Academy Charter School was formally approved Tuesday by the New York State Board of Regents. It will be modeled after the Hebrew Language Academy Charter School in Brooklyn.
The Harlem school, which borders on the heavily Jewish Upper West Side of Manhattan, will open with 156 students in grades K-1 and plans to grow over the next five years to 446 students in K-5. Lessons will be taught in Hebrew and English.
“There are a number of charter schools in Harlem, but there are not a lot of dual-language schools in Harlem and the Upper West Side,” Dan Gerstein, a media spokesman for the Hebrew Charter School Center, told JTA. “There’s a demand for other options, so this will give parents in those communities the choice to choose a great school for their child.”
Harlem Hebrew will be the fifth school in the Hebrew Charter School Center network and the third to be granted a charter this spring.
One of the goals of the school is to attract a diverse student body that exposes students of all backgrounds to the Hebrew language.
“We are incredibly proud of the success we have had with HLA in Brooklyn, which is 55 percent white and 45 percent minority, making it one of the most integrated public schools in New York City,” said co-lead applicant Sara Berman in a statement. “We are committed to building on that success at Harlem Hebrew and bringing together students from diverse communities in this school district."
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guest · 666 weeks ago
Michael · 666 weeks ago
Poor Leadership · 666 weeks ago
Yeshiva_Dad 69p · 666 weeks ago
Everything you said is dead on except one. NJ does have a Hebrew charter school. Just none in Bergen County where there would be the highest demand. Embarrasing.
-YD
Poor Leadership · 666 weeks ago
Proud Jew · 666 weeks ago
Miami Al · 666 weeks ago
No, they're not. They are schools with a kosher lunch program, teachers that build lesson plans knowing that large segments of the student body are absent on Yom Tov, and teach positive things about the state of Israel.
Given the problem of anti-semitism and anti-Israel sentiments within the black and latino populations, even if a Harlem area Hebrew Charter doesn't attack a single MO kid, just think how positive it is that in Harlem, you'll have positive impressions of the Jewish state being portrayed there.
If you're a proud Jew, you should be supportive of a school that will portray Israel positively and let proud Jews attend and maintain their Jewish practices, even if they aren't doing so in an Orthodox manner.
Proud Jew · 666 weeks ago
By definition, a charter school is a public school. I don't know what it's like in Florida, but here in New Jersey, there is a clear separation between Church and State. As such, I do not believe there will be any more accomodation for religious Jews in a charter school than in a regular public school. Therefore, I fail to see why anyone should be more supportive of a charter school as opposed to any other public school. In fact, I would argue to the contrary. Most non-Jews view this school as a way for Orthodox parents to game the system by providing religious education while utilizing public funds. This can only increase Anti-Semitism. Honestly, reponses like yours only convince these people that they are right.
Miami Al · 666 weeks ago
When the schools feature the "Sherut" girls talking about Israel, that creates positive impressions for the people going.
You should be supportive of things that portray Jews and Israel in positive lights.
By definition, a charter school is a publicly funded independent school, not a public district school.
remom · 666 weeks ago
I suspect that BC is threatened by the potential of a Hebrew Language Charter School because it will offer a "potential out" to those parents who seek another option beyond the conventional JDS model. Get ready, proud jew, because the reality is that the current system is going to have to chance or it will disappear. There are fewer and fewer Modern Orthodox Jewish families who are able to sustain the cost of tuition over the course of a full 12 year education (not including early childhood education). But the truth is that another model must be found and tweaked to provide the necessary learning environment for those opting out. Again, people are selling their jewelry, taking out second mortgages on their homes in order to afford JDS tuition and sleep away camps.... I don't see this as a positive sign for maintaining the current status quo. Who knows, maybe community exposure to another academic model and STANDARDS will yield some improvements in how Yeshiva Day Schools are run?
Poor Leadership · 666 weeks ago
Proud Jew · 666 weeks ago
Yeshiva_Dad 69p · 666 weeks ago
I'm a little confused on what you are saying. 1st you say "I do not believe there will be any more accomodation for religious Jews in a charter school than in a regular public school" but then you call it a scam. Why is it a scam?
I think the school has behaved terribly with all the lack of communication. But I don't have a problem with a Hebrew charter school in principle. Why shouldn't we get non-religious education with public dollars just like everyone else? It is a public school but because of the Hebrew training, I think that if it is coupled with after-school Judaic studies, in a program like Community Talmud Torah, it could be a decent low-cost alternative to a Yeshiva.
Yes people in town will whine that they don't want to pay for it but that's too bad. I don't want to pay for the Teaneck High football team.
Proud Jew · 666 weeks ago
YD, you are confusing 2 points. my statement of accomodation is correct. Why should there any more accomodation in one public school over another? IOW, if you are going to accomodate Jews in a Hebrew Charter school on Rosh Hashana, then Jews should be accomodated in a normal public school as well.
Now, the reason this is a scam is because it is perceived by the general public as a way to have a quasi-yeshiva by having the taxpayers pay for it. And, in fact, Miami Al actually confirmed this! Unfortunately, this is illegal.
Proud Jew · 666 weeks ago
Avi Greengart · 666 weeks ago
"Now, the reason this is a scam is because it is perceived by the general public as a way to have a quasi-yeshiva by having the taxpayers pay for it."
Hebrew charter schools are public schools. There is no religious instruction whatsoever. Instead of teaching Spanish or French as a second language, they teach Hebrew. If you pay your taxes, you get to send your kid to a public school. Why is it a problem if you pay your taxes and you send your kid to *this* public school?
"Why should there any more accomodation in one public school over another? IOW, if you are going to accomodate Jews in a Hebrew Charter school on Rosh Hashana, then Jews should be accomodated [sic] in a normal public school as well."
They should, and when there is a high enough concentration of observant Jews in a "regular" public school, they likely would be accommodated. A Hebrew charter school is likely to draw that critical mass, while a regular one might not. I understand why that is an appealing characteristic. Why don't you?
Miami Al · 666 weeks ago
You can be out on Yom Tov at ANY school, that's your right. The difference is, when a large portion of the student body is out, that school can make more general accommodations.
Two years ago, the FCAT dates fell out over the last days of Pesach. At Ben Gamla, they moved the entire school to take the FCATs on the make-up days, since 40% of the class was expected to be out, rather than having FCATs on the normal day and then having a "regular" day with almost half the class out for a make-up FCAT.
None of that was "state established religion" that was dealing with a known level of absenteeism.
Absences for religious holidays are completely excused and do NOT count against any limits on excused absences. Any teacher with a large number of Jews that will be out on the second day of Rosh Hashana won't schedule a test on that day. If you go into Deerborn or any school district with a large number of Muslims, you'll see similar accommodations. That doesn't make it a religious school, that's part of being in a pluralistic country.
Hebrew charter schools are SECULAR schools, but they are independently run, subject to the guidelines of the state and district that they are in. Public schools are open to the public, if you move to Teaneck mid-year, they have to find a space for you. You aren't entitled to a spot in the charter schools, they fill up. They are publicly funded but independently administered.
Proud Jew · 666 weeks ago
I hate to say this, because its not necessarily analogous, but every time Jews have been oblivious to what the general population thought (i.e. Jews in Egypt, Jews in Europe in the 1930s, Jews in Spain during the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella) there have been huge problems.
Charter schools steal funds from the public school budget. They cause everyone's taxes to go up.
remom · 666 weeks ago
I think you hit on a very loaded and important issue which is how "we" (Observant Jews) are viewed by the public and unfortunately, we give the PUBLIC plenty of reason to see us as greedy and yet we constantly sing our praises as the "light upon the nations". Hmmmm.....
Yeshiva_Dad 69p · 666 weeks ago
If it is really stealing then let the State reject the charter application. No reason there should be charters allowed for other languages but not Hebrew.
Yeshiva_Dad 69p · 666 weeks ago
Addressing your other points:
It is moot to talk about whether or not a charter school can give of for Rosh Hashana. most of the public schools in the tri-state area give off for Rosh Hashana, including both Teaneck and New York City. It's no more a violation of church-state separation than giving off schools and work for federal on Christmas.
2. There IS an Arabic language charter school in NYC and I have no problem with that. They pay their taxes and have a right to education that does not teach religion.
Teaneck Parent · 666 weeks ago
Yeshiva_Dad 69p · 666 weeks ago
That's a good question. As with any other group there is a range of opinions on the matter. I don't know what the majority is but I will give you my opinion.
Like Yeshiva tuition, public school costs have spun out of control of the last few decades. While everyone talks about how taxes and tuition costs need to come down, when it comes to making actual sacrifices everyone balks & says how this or that is so important it can't possibly be cut. (See the poll on the side of the page - majorities want to keep art, music, sports, high teacher-student ratios, etc.) My belief is that if we are serious about keeping education costs low we need to start putting some of the costs on the parents. Not everything can come out of the communal pot because not everyone can afford to pay their share out of such a large pot.
This applies equally to private and public schools. While education is and should remain a fundamental right for all children I don't think extra-curricular activities should be. Yes, sports are important which is why parents should pay for it. If they can't afford expensive sports programs, kids can go to a park and play without uniforms and umpires. It actually can be done and was done in this country in the past.
As far as the voting for school budgets go, I have frequently voted against them because I believe we are paying too much for education. It is more than we are paying for all other municipal services combined, including fire, police, transportation, etc. I did vote in favor last time because I felt that the school board did make a conscientious effort to rain in spending and the tax increase was almost nothing. If I had the opportunity to vote on the budget of my kids' yeshiva I would probably have a similar voting record. Until 2 years ago I didn't see much of a serious effort by the schools to reign in spending but now finally most of them are starting to get it under control.
I moderate a blog about keeping tuition down so my opinion should not be surprising to anyone nor should it be seen as a barometer of how all Orthodox Jews think. The assumption that all Orthodox Jews in Teaneck want to slash the school budget because we have no "skin in the game" is a fallacy. Those of us with children actually have more skin in it than do families who don't have any school-age children. We use the public school parks (especially on shabbat afternoon), we use the Courtesy busing, some of us enroll our children in the public schools (especially some of us with children requiring some form of special education), and if the Hebrew charter school ever gets off the ground some of us will be sending our children there.
So let's not make this an Orthodox-non Orthodox thing. We are all entitled to our opinion and to express our opinions online or in any other forum. If someone hates us for it that's their problem, not ours.
Basics · 666 weeks ago
Many, many people throughout our country, for a variety of reasons, elect to attend charter schools. Charter schools are publicly funded public schools. These are merely alternative choices to the local public school system. There are a variety of reasons why people choose / switch to a charter school. At times, it is due to the failures of the school district itself. At times it is due to a focus / concentration offered at the charter school, lacking at that district's general public school. Thus, if you google lists of state charter schools, you will see, throughout our country, many that are language based [not just Hebrew], many that are drama / art based, many that are science / tech focused, etc. These programs must follow strict state and federal guidelines. They cannot have religious observances or practices as part of the program. Thus, for the 45% of the Brooklyn Hebrew Charter school that are African American or Latino, they may be learning Hebrew, but they are not learning religious materials. If a Jew attended an Arabic speaking charter school, they would learn Arabic [over Spanish or Latin at the TPS], but would NOT be taught Muslim religion. This is not difficult to understand.
If one does not LIKE these rules become a state legislature and try to change them, but for now, these rules are what exist in NJ and many other states.
Miami Al · 666 weeks ago
So when I see language charters, I get really excited. I may choose a Hebrew language charter for my children because we have a cultural connection there, or I may not. However, when a Russian language school was announced in Flagler County, I thought that that was great. Sure, it'll be the children/grandchildren of Russian immigrants that largely send there, but so what? Some of those kids will grow up to be lawyers, some will be MBAs, and in time, there will be more professionals that speak Russian in Florida, and that's a huge advantage.
Look, NYC is relatively multi-cultural and multi-lingual, the rest of the country, not so much. Charters are the new wave of parents fed up with cronyism and corruption in the school system, without better economics for the districts than vouchers.
Proud Jew, you may not want your children to attend a Hebrew language charter. However, you should find it a good thing because to the students enrolled there, they will get a positive impression of Israel, the Jewish State. In the case of Harlem, if African American and Latino children attend, they'll get a VERY different impression of Israel and Jews than they get from their surrounding culture, and they'll hopefully bring that to their communities.
Outside the Orthodox bubble (and NYC professionals that interact with them), most Americans will NEVER encounter an Orthodox Jew. If a handful attend that charter, that's a school of people that don't think "Orthodox Jews, those section 8 thieves" they think, "Orthodox Jews, like my friend from middle school, Moshe" and that's HUGE.
There is a reason racism thrives where there is no interaction, I see far more racism in Orthodox Jewish circles than in the secular world. Why? Even those of us that went to relatively white schools still had black friends from school, might not have been a lot, but they were there. The Orthodox kids have never interacted with a black peer in their life, and that's why they act the way they do as adults.
Avi Greengart · 666 weeks ago
"I still find it astounding that no one will adress the main point of my posts, namely, the way non-Jews view this school. Is that because you don't care? Or, according to YD, you feel entitled to this, and who cares what the rest of the town thinks?"
What's the concern?
If they are concerned that the school will teach religion, they're simply wrong. We may need to do a better job of explaining what a charter school is, but there is no reason to stop pushing for one.
If they are concerned that the school will siphon resources from the other public schools, that's almost certainly true, but this is a public school, too. It's moving money from one type of public school to another. They can choose to send their kids there if they want to.
If they are concerned that there were families who were paying for public school services but weren't using them, and now those families will use them, well... too bad. That's just selfish. Everyone pays for public school resources, and everyone can use them. I would suggest that those with an interest in our public school system should see Charter schools pulling kids from private schools --- which may not actually happen much, but who knows? -- as an overall positive step. The more public school resources are used, the more involved the voting public will be in ensuring public school resources are available.
Proud Jew · 665 weeks ago
Is this is an example of what your views are toward anyone who disagrees with you (i.e. just insult and denigrate), then I can see that you have learned well from your mentor, Chump. I guess this blog is going off the cliff... just like his did.
Yeshiva_Dad 69p · 665 weeks ago
When you imply that the holocaust and the inquisition happened because Jews were insensitive to their neighbors, well, expect to get denigrated.
Carlton Terrace · 665 weeks ago
Be careful what you wish for. You are not going to turn this town into another Jewish ghetto.
Daniel · 665 weeks ago
The belief that public school costs in NJ are much too high is not limited to the Orthodox in Teaneck. Its been a defining issue for Governor Christie, and made him one of the most recognized and popular governors in the country. And even within NJ, the Teaneck public school costs are among the very highest. You may think the belief is mistaken, but your disagreement is not just with the Orthodox. Its with a lot of other people as well.
Julie Wiener · 665 weeks ago
Basics · 665 weeks ago
If one reads this they will say, wait a second, how about YESHIVA tuition or other costs associated with being part of the MO community {pesach, etc.].
If the average Joe needs a benchmark of 250k to be the new 100k, what do Yeshiva Paying parents need? $300k before taxes? $350k before taxes? Well, we all know families earning 1/2 that don't get scholarship assistance!!!
I think until people get into their gut we are ruining our community's long-term financial stability and future, and "bankrupting" this generation, by and large, the system may have some "corrections", but real impact and improvements. Basically, the same old system continues.
guest · 665 weeks ago
Although I think the difference is, my grandparents used to walk into the yeshiva office and pay with pennies - literally. They sacrificed big time to give their children a Jewish education in America. Our generation does not want to sacrifice one single iota or give up any luxuries for education. It is sad ....
guest · 665 weeks ago
People being fiscally prudent, and the high cost of yeshiva tuitions are 2 totally separate issues. One structurally has nothing to do with the other, unless you live in that little area, that if you crammed down your expenses, you could afford it all. But any family with 5 kids, can cut all expenses, and unless they are making tons of cash, are not going to be able to afford yeshiva tuition.
Probably a Chump · 665 weeks ago
Feel bad for chumps · 665 weeks ago
whatsapp · 305 weeks ago