Florida Charter School Told to Halt Hebrew Lessons

Ben Gamla Charter School, in Hollywood, Fla., was ordered this week by Broward School Board to stop teaching Hebrew amid concerns that the lessons violated the constitutional separation of government and religion, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports.

The school — which opened for the first time this week — refused the order and continued Hebrew classes because it said the board had overstepped its bounds. The school then relented and stopped teaching Hebrew two days later.

“I really don’t want to be in an adversarial situation with the school board,” said former U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch, the school’s founder.

Mr. Deutsch told The New York Times that the school’s critics were mostly defenders of Jewish day schools that stand to lose students and tuition money. He said he and his colleagues had worked to make sure that religious symbols and lessons were not included in the Hebrew classes.

Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, said it was possible his organization would sue to stop the school from using any government money to teach Hebrew.

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