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.

The Race Towards Excellence Is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

I have yet to discover a school that does not invoke the language of “excellence” in its viewbook, its annual report or its web site.  The claims quickly strain credulity.  What does excellence really mean?  How does one distinguish between real excellence and mere gimmicks?  Within the last two decades, the debate around educational improvement has focused on technology, specific teaching methods and small class size as potential lynchpins in the quest for educational quality.  While each approach has its merits, none of them independently has the capacity to create the kind of “excellent” schools that our children will need to make their way in the 21st Century.

Just what would a school for the current era look like?  And how might we build it?

Creating excellence is not simple.  Educational leaders who truly seek it face a “marathon,” a lengthy and detailed process of school improvement, and not the quick fix of a “sprint.” Those who have the courage to run that marathon should work to build schools that feature exemplary governance, thoughtful educational design and a focus on authentic learning outcomes, all within the frame of a school that takes ownership of a clear and compelling moral purpose.   (continued...)  

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