South Florida officials told charter school to suspend Hebrew lessons
Published by Avi Green on Monday, August 27, 2007 at 8:45 AM.
Something tells me that if this were madrassa, they wouldn't say a word. JTA tells about a shameful act in Florida:
And again, what if this were an Islamic madrassa in focus here? Would the reaction be different?
WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Less than 48 hours after classes began at the nation's only Jewish-oriented charter school, officials in Broward County, Fla., issued a command of their own: Thou shalt not teach Hebrew, at least for the time being.Let me see if I have this right. No religious content? Somehow, I fail to see what this has to do with it, but even if there is religious stuff involved, is there something wrong with that?
The Ben Gamla Charter School ignored the ruling for one day, then decided to cooperate with the Broward County School Board -- even though Ben Gamla's founder, former Democratic congressman Peter Deutsch, said Thursday that his Hollywood, Fla., institution is going strictly by the book.
"I had to literally run around school yesterday telling the Hebrew teachers not to teach Hebrew," Deutsch said. He insisted that there's a great deal of confusion over what is being allowed and what's not. "The school board says we don't have a contract at this point in time. We say we not only have a contract that allows us to teach Hebrew, but a contract that obligates us to teach Hebrew."
Nevertheless, Deutsch said that he and the superintendent of schools, James Notter, want exactly the same thing: a Hebrew-English curriculum with no religious content. "It can't be religious -- that would be unconstitutional," Deutsch said.
And again, what if this were an Islamic madrassa in focus here? Would the reaction be different?
