Letters to the Editor
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
“Almontaser’s Opportunity”
If parents want their children to attend an Arabic or any other nationality-specific school, they can do so by applying to a private school with the desired orientation [“Almontaser’s Opportunity,” editorial, October 18, 2007]. Charter schools are public schools, despite their ability to operate more independently than traditional schools. As a result, Arabic schools do not belong there, nor do their nationality-specific counterparts, because their value is overwhelmingly to these groups alone.
While it’s important to respect the rich traditions of newcomers as America becomes increasingly multicultural, it’s no excuse to lose sight of the ultimate need for assimilation if the nation is to avoid Balkanization. Attempts to point out this peril have been called neo-nativism. But Americanization has long been a goal of public schools, as Irving Howe wrote in “World Of Our Fathers” about the journey of East European Jews to America and the life they found and made.
Walt Gardner
Los Angeles
Please address letters intended for publication to the Editor of The New York Sun. Letters may be sent by e-mail to editor@nysun.com, by facsimile to 212-608-7348, or post to 105 Chambers Street, new York City 10007. Please include a return address and daytime telephone number. Letters may be edited.
