New York to Open First Arab Public High School

Originally posted by ThePieMaN

Originally posted by jsobecky

Where is the seperation of church and state here?

Other then the source that you quoted which seems like more of a biased opinion and an uninformed one to boot (Since obviously we do have foreign language schools) , where does it say anything about Islam or religion mentioned in the other articles especially where the faculty is being directly interviewed?

Just because the other articles didn't mention it doesn't mean that it isn't true. I can understand why they would try to hide the fact that it promotes Islam.

Why should this culture be emphasized when other cultures are not given the same emphasis?

Originally posted by jsobecky
Just because the other articles didn't mention it doesn't mean that it isn't true. I can understand why they would try to hide the fact that it promotes Islam.

Why should this culture be emphasized when other cultures are not given the same emphasis?

Listen I don't know wether you know it or not but Arab people consist of a lot of other religions other then Islam. That article which is basically a BLOG site where the owner can insert his personal opinion knows nothing about schools in NYC obviously. Im an arab and SURPRISE..Im Maronite Catholic. Amazingly even though I have already said Khalil Gibran is a MARONITE CATHOLIC poet/writer wouldn't that have given it away already that its not Islamic? It would be called Al-Noor or Al-Aqsa or some thing like that if it was Islamic. I also a public school where Chinese language is MANDATORY so I guess there goes his idea about there is no other foreign language school in NYC. Also they are opening up about 40 new small schools in NYC area similiar to this type of school. So he doesn't know what plans they have for other types of Cultures.


There are lots of Private schools funded by the state


In New York City, charter schools receive state, local, and federal funding that approximates $10,000 per student per year. In addition, the New York City Department of Education is working with Achievement First to secure no-cost facilities.
www.achievementfirst.org...

Originally posted by worldwatcher
why not just add new curriculum to existing public schools? Offer arabic in addition to Spanish, Italian and French.

If they did that, we'd probably have an article talking about how the jihadis have taken over the Board of Education.
Also, consider that the military can't even find enough translators of arabic, I doubt that the NYC public schools can attract enough arabic speakers, who are also certified to teach, to offer a course in arabic outside of one school.

jsobecky
as long as there were courses in Asian, European, African, Hispanic, and any other culture.

Every history course taught to in every grade is a European Culture Course already. And if there was a section of NYC that had a huge population of Chechs, it'd certainly make sense to have a school in it that offered courses on chech history and language.

\Half of the classes will actually be taught in Arabic and all courses will focus on the culture, which heavily features the religion of Islam.

European history courses also 'heavily feature the religion' of christianity. YOu can't talk about european history without talking about the Great Schism, the papal states, the reformation, etc.

Although the campus has been named after a peaceful intellect who often wrote about love, there is concern about the actual curriculum since it will teach and promote the religion of Islam.

Interesting how its implied there that Islam is not peaceful and not loving. It certainly is, at least in the realm of religions.

Where is the seperation of church and state here?

Where is there any teaching of islam as theology as a course of study??? We have students recite a pledge invoking god at the start of class, but they can't learn about how islamic theology influenced jurisprudence, philsophy, and natural science???

People are finally starting to come out against this. Here's a blog about it:

stopthemadrassa.wordpress.com...

Just out of curiosity - does NY have public schools the specialize in Italian customs or Irish customs? NY has a large population of both those nationalities. Do they get thier own schools? Don't know much about NY's education system - just wondering...

And the idea of an Arab school in the US is a problem? I live pretty close to an "American Community School", where they teach the American syllabus. Should I be getting in a huff about that? There's even an "American Estate Agents" on the High Street of the village!

I have to say, I wholeheartedly disapprove of this travesty of the use of taxpayer money.

School is supposed to be about both preparing kids for the future, that is having the skills
to both work and thrive in the world as well as educate them about as much as possible.

I fail to see the use of this school to anyone who has'nt decided to have a career that
directly deals with them being in Arabic countries or dealing primarily with Arabic peoples.

I would'nt mind if this was a multi-year elective class or something like that,
but creating an entire High School that deals strictly with all things Arabic is just wrong
on so many levels.


Oh, and it has nothing to do with Islam to me.

Originally posted by iori_komei
I fail to see the use of this school to anyone who has'nt decided to have a career that
directly deals with them being in Arabic countries or dealing primarily with Arabic peoples.

Well, in that case it's probably about time an Arabic school was opened up in the States! Maybe if American students went there to study some Arabic Culture courses they might have a better understanding of the Middle East. And as a result might even be able to bridge the growing gap between your two cultures.

Originally posted by DenyAllKnowledge
Well, in that case it's probably about time an Arabic school was opened up in the States! Maybe if American students went there to study some Arabic Culture courses they might have a better understanding of the Middle East. And as a result might even be able to bridge the growing gap between your two cultures.

Why should they be learning about a culture that will have no bearing on the world 20+
years from now, simply because it will be so different, when they could be learning useful
things like Math, Science, Reading & Writing (something this country is dismal in anymore) and the arts.

I think this is fine as long as Hebrew schools for example are publicly funded. All the Hebrew schools around me are private...

There is also the case of extremism. I think that this school should be audited more than other schools. Not because of Islamophobia, but because of common sense.

EDIT: Just to add though, I do not think these schools should be publicly funded, Hebrew, Hispanic, Black, Arabic, whatever.

[edit on 25-7-2007 by RetinoidReceptor]

Originally posted by DenyAllKnowledge
And the idea of an Arab school in the US is a problem? I live pretty close to an "American Community School", where they teach the American syllabus.

If you're talking about the "American School" close to Swiss Cottage and St. John's Wood in London.....that's a private school and does not receive taxpayer funding.

Should I be getting in a huff about that?

Not if it's privately funded.

???



[edit on 25/7/2007 by SportyMB]

The principal of the school has already had to resign before it even opened because of her ties to a t-shirt that seems to advocate terrorism in New York City: