East Brunswick, NJ – The state has approved New Jersey’s first publicly funded school with a mission of teaching Hebrew, according to a New Jersey Department of Education press release.
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Hatikvah International Academy Charter School of East Brunswick won the green light today along with seven other charter school proposals.
Hatikvah, Hebrew for “hope,” will offer “in-depth study of Hebrew and Hebrew culture,” and open in fall 2010 with 108 students from kindergarten through second grade, according to the founders’ application.
The application submitted earlier this year ignited local controversy of the separation of church and state, especially among Jews. Two petitions circulated in the spring, with more than 100 area residents for or against, and signatures of Jews on both sides of the issue.
Critics claimed the application was a thinly veiled substitute for a local private Jewish school in town that teaches religion and charges up to $13,000 a year in tuition.
The founders, meanswhile, stressed that their school would steer clear of religion while teaching a vital 21st-century skill — a second language that would prepare students for the global economy. State law forbids publicly funded schools from teaching religion.
There is no charge for students to attend a charter school, which is funded by taxpayers. The school will observe the same holidays that East Brunswick’s public schools observe. The cafeteria would not serve kosher food, although students would not be discouraged from bringing kosher food to school, founders have said. Subjects such as math, science and English, will be taught in English.
The proposed school is slated to be located in a vacant building on Cornwall Court that had been home to a New York Sports Club gym, Nezaria said. East Brunswick, a diverse Middlesex County town, has more than 1,000 Jewish families, according to a recent study by the Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County.
Charter schools are independently run but survive on taxpayer funds, provided through the local district on a per pupil basis. Hatikvah would get about $1.3 million a year. Charters are required to offer their services to all students by lottery, must follow state curriculum standards and need state approval to open.
It is interesting to note that there are public schools in predominantly Arab districts that serve halal food. I’m wondering, therefore, why this school would not be able to serve kosher food.
This is a wonderful development and provides an opportunity to legally direct public funds to schools which provide at least some element of yiddeshkeit. It would clearly be inappropriate to take these funds and give them to yeshivot or even a MO day school since they promote religious practices.
For jewish families who can no longer afford the cost of a yeshiva education for their children, this is probably a better alternative than the public schools and I hope many such families enter the lottery for a slot in the Hatikvah program.
This is an absolute abomination! We are now going to be forced to use tax payers money to pay for religious schooling. Members of the school should be ashamed of how they have pulled the wool over the eyes of the state with the thinly veiled pretence of it focusing on teaching the Hebrew language. Their neighbors should shun them for stealing from their own children’s education. The East Brunswick community should rally behind this and organize a group of volunteers to monitor the teachings to ensure that it does not cross the line of separation of church and state and ensure that it conforms to the same standards that the public schools must abide to. The High School Football coach led the team in a prayer and it let to a Supreme Court case. Now he cant even bow his head while a prayer is led by a member of the team. You cant honestly believe that there will not be prayers in that building. One slip-up and the charter should be revoked.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not an anti-Semite though I am sure I will be accused of that by the people that are planning on taking advantage of this school. Freedom of religion is the backbone of our society. Everyone has the right to practice or not to practice any religion they so choose but that right is not free, it has a price tag. I am now being told I have to pay for someone else’s religion.
I too wish to complain about this charter school approval. Jewish blogs are full of comments of how great this school will be for Jewish studies, while the organizers of this school have fooled the state into thinking that our kids need the opportunity to learn hebrew so that they might do business with other hebrew speakers. This is beyond imagination. Certainly, the separation of synagogue and state is blurred to say the least. I certainly do imagine, however, that kids in this school will be better able to read from the Torah for their Bar/Bat Mitzvah. The school is to offer full day kindergarten while the rest of town is offered only a half day option. Admittance to the new charter school is to be by lottery (for 108 spots). Can many non-jewish EB residents wishing to take advantage of this publicly funded full day KG have a reasonable chance at “winning” this lottery? My family celebrates Jewish holidays, but everyday I celebrate the foundations of our country that separates religion from state and prevents division in our communities. Shame on those who approved this school.