Has Church and State Returned in Charter Schools? 
"Why pay for religious schools when charters are free? The first Hebrew charter school opened August 2007 in Broward County, Florida. The Ben Gamia Charter School `is not a religious school in any form,' its principal, Sharon Miller, said, `but a Hebrew-English public charter school' educating 585 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, and a high school is scheduled to open in 2010.
"This coming fall, a second Hebrew school, Hebrew Language Academy, will open its doors in Brooklyn, New York, offering a completely secularized dual language curriculum committed to academic excellence and Hebrew-Language proficiency.
"The Roman Catholic Diocese in Brooklyn, in financial straits, recently wrestled with this question as well, when it had to decide whether to allow some Catholic schools to be converted to charter schools rather than to close down. `A charter school is not a Catholic school,' explains the Reverend Kieran Harrington, the vicar of communications at the Diocese. 'In a Catholic school, we look at the whole human person -- the mind, the body and the soul. A public school cannot be involved in the formation of the soul. Charter schools, while not ideal, are an opportunity for us to at least speak about character. We are hoping to attract some families who would never pursue any Catholic education."
However, some critics of these charter schools point out that it is walking a fine line between church and state when you scrutinize every aspect of their agendas.
Charter schools being free, it is easy to understand one of the primary motives, as schools and colleges have become too costly for many.
KEYWORDS: Church and State, Charter Schools
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