Four of the 27 new charter schools opening in New York City this fall have ties with religious organizations, although leaders assert curriculum and instruction will be secular.
Supporters say the new schools are a welcome addition amid overcrowded classrooms and heightened demand for charters, especially in neighborhoods with low-performing schools. But the development blurs the line between church and state, and also calls into question the distinction between public education and private groups, an issue with which charter schools already contend. Four pastors are involved in starting charter schools, which receive public funding but can be privately run.
The Rev. A.R. Bernard's Brooklyn-based nondenominational Christian Cultural Center boasts a membership of 33,000, with 5,000 coming to services on any given Sunday. Now, 120 kindergarteners and first-graders will be attending Monday through Friday as it opens a charter school called the Culture Arts Academy Charter School at Spring Creek. The charter school will share the same building—but on a different floor—as the private school Mr. Bernard previously founded, Brooklyn Preparatory School.
"This is not about proselytizing," he said. The new school is in on the border of East New York and Canarsie in Brooklyn, where an average of 70% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
"As a social institution, churches live in communities where problems exist," founding principal Laurie Midgette said. The curriculum will include artists working in classrooms with teachers, and "character-building" courses in the morning.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703650604575313353972327426.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_newyork
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