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of 225 words or less are considered first. Longer ones will be subject to trimming. Letter writ-
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Charter Hebrew School
I read with great interest the letter
from Joe Lewis, "A Charter School?"
(Oct. 18, page 6A). I have been a part
of the charter school movement since
1999 when I served as the founding
principal of a very successful school
(Conner Creek Academy).
Opening a charter school that
would emphasize the Jewish language
and culture is not new; in fact, on our
team at Conner Creek was assistant
principal, Sheila Charlip, who for
many years was an outstanding teach-
er at Hillel Day School of Metropolitan
Detroit. Having experienced the suc-
cess of Conner Creek Academy, Sheila
and I hoped that one day we could
open the first charter school offering
a secular approach to the history, poli-
tics, culture, geography and language
of the Jewish people.
Other religious/ethnic groups
have been involved in the charter
movement since its inception. One
of the first chartered public schools
in Michigan served the Arabic and
Muslim community of Dearborn.
There are now five schools in
Michigan offering a full secular pro-
gram along with language and cul-
ture classes in Arabic. These schools
are funded in a fashion similar to
local school districts receiving fund-
ing from the State of Michigan based
on the number of students enrolled.
Clearly, there is a need for a
tuition-free public school offering
instruction in Hebrew language,
culture, history, geography and lit-
erature providing an alternative to
today's choices of a day school or
public school combined with after-
school Hebrew programs.
While there are some challenges to
overcome in order for a public school
offering Jewish culture as its focus to
grow and develop, these challenges
are manageable. A school like this
needs the support of the Jewish com-
munity. If managed correctly, charter
schools could provide a workable
alternative as well as help save public
education.
A charter school education, sup-

ported with as much as a $7,500 per
pupil foundation grant coupled with
voluntary contributions, federal, state
and private grants could provide the
components needed for a superior
education without placing financial
burden upon the families seeking a
quality Jewish education.
With my strong background
in chartered public schools, I am
prepared to once again take on the
challenge of applying for a charter
to provide the kind of education our
children deserve.

Risha B. Ring

Farmington Hills

Enough Of The Neocons
I note with dismay the rightward tilt
of your Editor's Letter. In the past
weeks, you have written fawning arti-
cles about Frank Gaffney ("Fighting
Smarter," Sept. 27, page 5) and Daniel
Pipes ("No Pipe Dream," Oct. 5, page
5A), among others.
These men are among the large
group of neoconservatives such as
Paul Wolfowitz, Daniel Perle, Eliot
Abrams, Scooter Libby who have
been in the forefront of Jewish
hawks. These are the misguided folk
who were major proponents of the
calamitous, deceitful Bush war in
Iraq, which has cost us and our rap-
idly evaporating allies thousands of
casualties and wounded, has squan-
dered hundreds of billions of dollars
and has lost our beloved country the
respect of almost the entire world.
Now these same pathetic folk have
the chutzpah of hinting about mili-
tary involvement in Iran. The threat
from militant extremists is very much
alive; but there must be a better way
than the neocons' way.
To paraphrase the famous Roman
orator Cicero: "How much longer,
oh, Bush and cohorts, will you abuse
our patience?" America must remain
strong and regain its world leader-
ship, to make sure that democracies
like our cousin Israel will indeed sur-
vive and prosper.

Eric Billes

West Bloomfield

1320220

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November 1 • 2007 ,JN

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