But as Josh Kraushaar notes, Just seems to equate the day schools with yeshivas and ghettos.
It's apparent that Just hasn't visited a Jewish day school in his life. Nearly all Jewish day schools graduate well-rounded students, knowledgable about their religious heritage who make contributions to all aspects of life in America. They generally have rigorous secular academic programs, as well as the standard Jewish classes of: Hebrew, Bible, Rabbinics and Jewish History. Jewish day schools offer the best of both secular and religious education and many are non-denominational. Since when did raising children with knowledge of their religious traditions become "fundamentalist?" Unbelievable.
As the famed liberal attorney Alan Dershowitz has written many times, Jewish day school education is the key to Jewish continuity by giving world-class secular educations (much better than many public schools offer) and religious knowledge and values to be used in modern society. By misrepresenting Jewish day schools as enclosed yeshivas that teach students to memorize Torah leads Just to make manymistaken conclusions throughout his article.
For the record, I went to public schools all my life (including for university and grad school) -- I happened to have been lucky enough to attend what at the time counted as one of the best public high schools in the country. Among the most gifted of my classmates, a fair number had spent their elementary and middle school days in JDS. They seemed no worse for wear, at best. And to be frank, I'd have gladly traded my hellish middle school for the JDS.
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