Latest in the Public Debate Over Charter Schools

The Winter edition of the Conservative / Masorti movement’s publication, Kolot, landed on my desk with a thud.  It features three articles on the Hebrew charter school movement.  Elana Weinberg, who teaches in the Hebrew Language Academy of Brooklyn, marvels at the “tremendous diversity” in her school, where just under half of the enrolled students are not Jewish.  Meanwhile, Rabbi Paul Plotkin of Margate, Florida urges leaders to embrace this opportunity raise a “Jewishly literate generation.”  (He’s also convinced that aging schuls can make a killing by renting out unused Hebrew school space to charter schools.)  Elaine Cohen weighed in last, expressing concern that these schools will not provide the “deep Jewish experiences” of a day school environment. 

While I encourage you to read for yourself and comment on this page, I have three immediate responses.

First, the power of day schools is their ability to create immersive environments where Jewish children will have formative experiences in a space that affirms their identity and values.  To imagine that Hebrew alone will sustain Jewish continuity is far off-target. 

Second, if we are willing to countenance the argument that public funds should be devoted to building Hebrew language academies, then it should be a foregone conclusion that public funds must be available to fully underwrite the cost of general studies instruction in our day schools.   

Finally, I take issue with Rabbi Plotkin’s notion that charter schools represent a positive opportunity for non-Orthodox congregations.  This community desperately needs a lay leadership that is textually grounded and immersed in serious Jewish learning.  The next generation of liberal Jewish leaders will not get their start in the secular Hebrew language academies of Brooklyn and Margate.  They will only emerge when community leaders collectively and consistently stand up for day schools as the best and most effective vehicle for developing a strong and coherent Jewish identity.

Please use the comment link, below, and add your voice to the discussion.