A Challenge to Jewish Private Schools.

Recently, the William Hart School District in Santa Clarita authorized a charter school that will, among other things, teach Hebrew to its students. It is not--because the United States Constitution prohibits it--a religious school. Rather, it is a school in which Hebrew will be one of many foci.

Charter schools are free because they receive public funds. It is precisely because of this, however, that they cannot be religious in orientation. Thus, they are very different than a Jewish private school, which, by definition, teaches particular religious values and traditions. Indeed, Kadima is a Solomon Schechter Day School, which means that its particular philosophical bent is tied to Conservative Judaism.

At Kadima, we believe being a Jewish private school, and being a Schechter School both mean something. They effect, in the broadest sense, how we teach our students. They mean that we are Jewish school, and not just a good language school, or a school based upon strong teaching of humanities. They also mean that our curriculum is integrated, and we focus academically upon both General Studies and Judaic Studies, in addition to inculcating Jewish values and religious traditions. Thus, our students (well, the older ones, anyway) study Jewish subjects with equal intellectual fervor as they study General Studies. Our Judaic Studies program is more than just celebrating holidays, although that is part of it.

It remains to be seen whether Hebrew charter schools will be successful. At best they will provide good language instruction; at worst, they seem to me that to be kind of like a cupcake: It takes good, but lacks any real nutrients.

At Kadima, we have lots of nutrients for the mind and the soul. We'll teach your kids Hebrew--because Hebrew is a key to rich understanding of Jewish philosophy and spirituality as well as being the language of Israel. But we'll also teach your kids the tools to find meaning in the richness and wonder of Jewish thought and Jewish life.

At Kadima, we're a Jewish school. And that's something that a charter school can never be.