Posted on 08/15/2007 11:42:19 AM PDT by 3AngelaD
An Arabic language public school set to open in Brooklyn on September 4 is on its second principal before even opening its doors. Experienced educator Danielle Salzberg, who grew up Orthodox, was appointed as the school's interim principal late Monday, following last week's abrupt resignation of the school's founder, Debbi Almontaser.
Khalil Gibran International Academy, named after a Lebanese-American poet and intended to emphasize Arabic language and culture, has been mired in controversy since it was first announced in February. Critics are concerned the school will become a hotbed for Islamic extremism, despite assurances from the Department of Education that the school will not teach religion. The school will join 70 other dual-language programs, including Spanish, Chinese, Haitian-Creole and Russian, that already exist in the city. The Arabic-language curriculum is being developed by teachers trained at a federally funded Arabic-language instruction program and will use Arabic translations of English-language children's books published by Scholastic.
Criticism of the school, which has three rabbis on its advisory board, reached a high last week over Almontaser's failure to condemn T-shirts printed by the group Arab Women Active in Art and Media, that read "Intifada NYC." Almonaster sits on the board of the Saba Association of American Yeminis, which shares office space with the organization that made the T-shirts...Almontaser resigned shortly thereafter, saying she was doing so out of concern for the future of the school. The "intolerant and hateful tone" used by critics of the school "has come to frighten some of the parents and incoming parents," she wrote in a letter of resignation, as reported in the New York Sun...
Late Monday, Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein announced Danielle Salzberg as interim acting principal of Khalil Gibran. Salzberg worked for the Department of Education for 11 years, first as an English teacher and later as the assistant principal at another of the city's recently established small schools. She is currently working for New Visions, a non-profit organization that in part helps to develop new schools, including Khalil Gibran...
Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who has been at the forefront of the campaign to shut down the school, is not assuaged by the choice of principals. Salzberg's Orthodox background has not persuaded Hikind, who represents an Orthodox district of Brooklyn, to step back from his criticism...
When I had Spanish classes in HS we also had to learn about the culture of the Spanish speaking nations. My point is that the culture of Arab speaking countries is so entrenched in Islam that it would be impossible not involve religion into the curriculum.
Are my reading skills deteriorating or does this article fail to mention what Salzberg religious affiliation is now?
Ping! Do you have any more info on this development?
Daniel Pipes just commented on this development. I’ll look for a cut & paste link...
just because it won’t teach religion doesn’t mean it won’t be a problem. Many arab terrorists are secular nationalists. Saddam Hussein was an atheist before he converted to Islam in the mid 90’s (probably to increase his support)
Your reading skills are still serving you well. In journalistic parlance, this is what is known as “a hole in the story.” I wondered the same thing myself.
I should have mentioned that Daniel Pipes is a recognized authority on Middle East issues. Always worth checking out his opinion on a particular issue.
A bigger hole in this whole ongoing story is that despite Brooklyn having had a huge Jewish population for a long, long time, the Ed Dept has never felt the urge to open a “Hebrew-themed” school there (or anywhere else).
For balance, maybe they should announce that plan now, along with the appointment of intifada-lady as its principal. < /s>
The Daniel Pipes piece on this was an excellent read, and good for a couple of laughs as well. Thank you.
Pleased you found it and liked it. He really is quite good. The ragheads hate him, of course. In debates, he really wastes them.
New York City isn’t content with importing terrorists - it now wants to grow them locally, on the city taxpayer’s dime.
We have Bloomberg to thank for this. Good thing he only gets 2 terms.
Apparently my reading skills are deteriorating. I read that she’s Orthodox. Had it not been for your post, I’d probably still think that’s what it said. Thanks for making me go back and read that again.
Do you know what her current religion is? Or are you just wondering, as I now am?
Actually, In 1994, the Supreme Court ruled that the Kiryas Joel school district, which covered only the New York village whose population is made up entirely of Hasidic Jews, was designed in violation of the Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment, because the design accommodated one group on the basis of religious affiliation. Subsequently, the New York State Legislature established a similar school district in the town that has passed legal muster. I don’t know what they did to make it constitutional.
Okay, she grew up Orthodox. Orthodox Jewish, we may guess, since this is NYC and her name is Salzburg. But what is she now? And what is her opinion of Judaism and Jews? That would be relevant.
Mrs VS
I’m just wondering. I seriously doubt she’s a practicing Orthodox Jew, both because the article placed her Orthodox affiliation in the past and because I can’t imagine any brand of Orthodox Jew taking this job.
If she hasn’t actually converted to Islam (which is always a possibility - recall the recent news of an Epicopalian priest who claims to simultaneously be a Muslim and an Episcopalian), she’d be regarded by most Muslims (and all the terrorist-sympathizing ones) as a Jew, and probably not someone they’d want in charge of their children’s school.
More than her current religious affiliation, which is probably along the lines of secular/Reform/Reconstructionist Jew, I’d like to know whose pocket she’s in. Given the extremely high profile of this lowly-on-paper position, I don’t think she was some random volunteer from the ranks of the Ed Dept’s educrat staff. I’m on the lookout for some direct connection to the Hillary machine. I suppose I ought to do some Googling . . .
Yes, I’m familiar with that one, but it’s far outside the realm of the New York City Public School system.
Please ping me if you find anything. It’s hard for me to do my own googling on this cell phone. I’m glad I can find everything right here on FR.
: )
Marking.....
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