“Trying to Keep Religion Out of the Charter School Classroom” by Edgar Walters

Imagine being in a Hebrew class in Middle School in NYC if its offered. Now imagine being in a Hebrew class in Middle School in San Antonio, Texas. Sounds like the same thing, right? Well not exactly, there is a state mandate that if kids are being taught class in a certain language, then they should also be taught the religion/culture, according to a NYTimes article on The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Campus of the San Antonio Jewish Community. But here’s the catch, these charter schools which are “publicly funded and privately owned” are forced to abide by these laws, but other public schools are encouraged to “keep religion out of the classroom” just like in NYC. This is exactly as if you attended one of these new charter schools which are popping up around the city and you take a class in Chinese and are forced to learn their religion, or Italian and learn their religion, or in Hindi and learn their religion. For me, this sounds absurd because schools are originally instituted to teach you material such as math, science, language, and history, while families are there to teach you culture and religion based on their upbringings.