The new head of a Hebrew charter school in Brooklyn, NY is assuring critics she knows how to operate Yeshiva Rambam in keeping with the principles of church-state separation. From the Forward:
As for whether [Maureen Campbell] felt worried about the line between religion and state that critics said the school was toeing: “It’s actually not a thin line,” she said. “It is a line that is very clear. The church and state separation in New York is very clear. You can teach a culture and a language without encouraging the observance of a religion.”
She also had an answer for how to teach Hebrew in a way that would keep it secular: “In teaching a second language, the process of learning about the country and the culture is natural. There’s a natural link to the history of world Jewish communities and the Israeli culture as a culture and the Hebrew language as a language spoken around the world by various peoples.”
I continue to believe – and the law supports – the idea that publicly funded schools can teach about religion without engaging in religious instruction or promotion. Some settings may prove more challenging than others, though, in holding that line.
