Perhaps the charter's backers should commission a survey about what the city's blacks ACTUALLY think about this, including whether it would be a 1st or 5th choice. No worries, if you pay for a survey you own it, so if you can't use the results you can bury them.

That would get us away from all this talk about "what blacks on 16th street want" which to me sounds patronizing and is making me pretty uncomfortable. At least until I hear it from a source that isn't totally self-serving.

Ahem 10:42, I have a friendly suggestion for you. You need to spend a little less time scouring old posts for new ways to insult people. And you need to spend more time trying to follow the logic of the posts, so you don't keep digging yourself into new holes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like it is a way for DC to retain more Jewish families. We know Jewish families who would like it, non-Jews not so much unless they didn't get in anywhere else.

or put jewish primary day school out of business? eliminate some of the costs of private hebrew school?

People who choose Jewish Primary Day want the Jewish (religious) education. This seems to be a language immersion school, much like Yu Ying is a language immersion school (not a YY parent, and no, not turning this thread into a YY thread - just making a comparison). Would anyone argue that YY also teaches a Communist curriculum?

Mandarin is one of the world's most spoken languages in a huge country; Hebrew one of the least spoken languages in a tiny country. Hebrew and Judaism are intertwined throughout history. Chinese and Communism is a recent thing. Communism is a political party. Judaism is a religion.

Need I go on?

In China, the school books actually say "There is no God." Talk about your lack of separation!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:


I'll apologize on behalf of the poster who neglected to mention every possible place Jews could live in DC. I'm sure it was a reprehensible laziness.

Are you therefore claiming that upper 16th street and these additional zip codes look like Jewish parts of Brooklyn?

Maybe, but I think it's more likely they are signaling the likely location of the Hebrew Charter school - perfectly positioned to serve the city's Jewish and upper middle class Blacks.

I think it's a battle against this thread's notion that Hebrew implies Jewish implies wealthy implies Ward 3.

Anonymous wrote:


I'll apologize on behalf of the poster who neglected to mention every possible place Jews could live in DC. I'm sure it was a reprehensible laziness.

Are you therefore claiming that upper 16th street and these additional zip codes look like Jewish parts of Brooklyn?

Maybe, but I think it's more likely they are signaling the likely location of the Hebrew Charter school - perfectly positioned to serve the city's Jewish and upper middle class Blacks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It's a bit of a stretch to compare blacks who choose to live in Brooklyn's largely Jewish neighborhoods, amidst all the hebrew store signage described in the article, with DC's blacks who live in ... where are DC's jewish neighborhoods again? Blacks who live in Brookland and AU park have lots of good options, including public, charter and private, and they may not be quite as interested.

You don't know DC very well. Upper 16th Street, Gold Coast, zip codes 20012, 20011 and many parts of 20015 are heavily jewish and black upper middle class.

I'll apologize on behalf of the poster who neglected to mention every possible place Jews could live in DC. I'm sure it was a reprehensible laziness.

Are you therefore claiming that upper 16th street and these additional zip codes look like Jewish parts of Brooklyn?

I'd stop at 20 too. French is an official language of many international organizations. (Although I agree with the PP who wondered if the number of french-speakers includes African or other countries. For example, "Haitian" is listed as a separate language, but lots of people in Haiti speak both creole and french, esp. for govt and business.)

Not sure I buy the argument that offering Hebrew to blacks on 16th street, even as a 3rd or 4th choice, is selling point. Wouldn't they (and non-Jewish whites for that matter) prefer a 3rd or 4th choice they can actually use? Like Russian or Japanese? And given that resources are limited, as somebody else pointed out, shouldn't we spend the resources in a way that will make the most people happy? So that if a kid doesn't get into choices #1 and #2, they have a third option they might actually be enthusiastic about?

Yes, some people value bilingualism for its own sake. I sent one of my kids to a bilingual school. But why? So he can actually talk to large numbers of new people. There is a small group of parents who like bilingual education because of what it does for the brain, but having been in this academic world, the number of these parents seems tiny.

I dispute the assumption that a Hebrew immersion school is only appealing to Jewish parents (and I'm not even touching the assumptions that these Jewish parents are wealthy, or where they live). I think we still have an incredible dearth of good school options, so if the school is well-run & appealing for other reasons, parents of all backgrounds will still be interested sending their kids there (even if it is their second, third or fifth choice).

There are also some parents (me included!) who think that bilingual education is good in & of iteslf, so if I don't get my top-choice language, another program is nearly as valuable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:personally, I'd cut it off at top 20

For me, top ten. We need to harness the few resources the system has. Also, I think that French number might be off. Does that number include all the French African speaking countries?

I'll go top 20, as I see french and korean as viable languages for business...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It's not exactly what you'd expect to see when you walk into the Hebrew Language Academy (HLA), a public charter school in the largely Jewish neighborhood where Midwood meets Marine Park.

But in each kindergarten classroom, you'll find just that: tables of four children, with both white and black students seated at them.

Zvi Dov Roth Academy in NYC: http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-05-25/news/hebrew-spoken-HLA-hebrew-language-academy/

The black/jewish alliance is as strong as ever when it comes to education.

It's a bit of a stretch to compare blacks who choose to live in Brooklyn's largely Jewish neighborhoods, amidst all the hebrew store signage described in the article, with DC's blacks who live in ... where are DC's jewish neighborhoods again? Blacks who live in Brookland and AU park have lots of good options, including public, charter and private, and they may not be quite as interested.

You don't know DC very well. Upper 16th Street, Gold Coast, zip codes 20012, 20011 and many parts of 20015 are heavily jewish and black upper middle class.

Anonymous wrote:personally, I'd cut it off at top 20

For me, top ten. We need to harness the few resources the system has. Also, I think that French number might be off. Does that number include all the French African speaking countries?

Hmmm, I wonder if the charter folks are taking notes?

"There seems to be passionate support both for and against."
"Did you see the Wodehouse Charter spoof?"
"The charter's biggest supporter is calling naysayers Hitler and sexual deviants."
"This seemed to work in Brooklyn."
"Backers say it's time DC had a charter for rich kids in NW, how do we feel about that?"
"Hmmm, interesting list of languages by speaker population"

DCUM is an interesting sociological experiment.

Hey, when you're 10, the Hitler and sexual insults make complete sense. I'm done with this thread and this immature poster.

Anonymous wrote:

I can follow your "argument" but the fact that it isn't being made effectively, despite the fact that it's being made ad infinitum has failed to persuade me.

I'm not going to call you anything nasty other than repetitive and ineffective. Okay, possibly ill-informed, over-confident, and perhaps ill-equipped to follow the dots. But you can go about your very own way otherwise. I couldn't care less about your sexual or washing habits. Your nasty is your thing.

This thread has jumped the shark. In fact, it jumped the shark (or maybe it was Godwin's law) when you mentioned Hitler, and the sexual innuendos are just the cherry on the cake.

You need to take a good look at yourself in the mirror, and ask if you're proud of this behavior, if you're proud of the way you represent other jews on this thread, or if you're proud of your debating style which seems to run to ad hominem attacks rather than logic. You're a sad, sad person.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCPS only spends money if your kid needs help passing NCLB. Presumably, most of the kids at a Hebrew charter would be able to pass NCLB with flying colors. As others have said, there's an argument for spending money to keep middle class kids in the DCPS system, but DCPS probably figures it already has that covered, if inadequately, with JLKM, Latin, Banneker, Walls, and that ilk.

So as an exercise, in preparation for the charter application, can somebody explain why:
(1) DCPS should allocate money to kids who will already pass NCLB with flying colors, and
(2) how taking these kids out of other NW schools would not increase the risk these other schools will fail to make AYP the following year?

Latin isn't DCPS. Neither is YY. That's part of the bitterness?

Duh. But they're options available to any wealthy family in DC, no?

Should it become available, the option of Washington Hebrew would available to any family in DC, wealthy or otherwise, regardless of religion.

Can you follow the argument being made above? Can you see how your point is a non sequitur? (Are you going to call me nasty names now?)

I can follow your "argument" but the fact that it isn't being made effectively, despite the fact that it's being made ad infinitum has failed to persuade me.

I'm not going to call you anything nasty other than repetitive and ineffective. Okay, possibly ill-informed, over-confident, and perhaps ill-equipped to follow the dots. But you can go about your very own way otherwise. I couldn't care less about your sexual or washing habits. Your nasty is your thing.