Justices reject school board’s final appeal, closing case

EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J. — The New Jersey Supreme Court has officially closed the books on the East Brunswick School district’s legal challenge against the Hatikvah International Academy, rejecting the school board’s final appeal and definitively upholding the validity of Hatikvah’s charter, Hatikvah officials announced today.

 
In a ruling issued late last week, the state’s highest court followed the Appellate Division and the Commissioner of Education in dismissing East Brunswick’s groundless lawsuit against Hatikvah, New Jersey’s first Hebrew language charter school. The Supreme Court’s decision is final, with no chance of appeal.

 
“We are extremely grateful to the Supreme Court for seeing through this baseless case and upholding our right to provide an excellent educational option for the parents in our community who are interested in a high quality dual language experience,” said Hatikvah Board Member and spokeswoman Pam Mullin.

 
“This puts a welcome end to East Brunswick’s blatant waste of tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars and puts control of our education dollars back in the hands of East Brunswick’s families, empowering them to choose what kind of public school is best for their children. We just hope this definitive ruling will also end the unproductive and unjustified harassment we have received from the East Brunswick school board, so we can get on with our shared mission of providing great schools for every child in our town.”

EAST BRUNSWICK — In the wake of East Brunswick’s recent decision to continue its groundless lawsuit against the Hatikvah International Academy Charter School, Hatikvah officials announced today that they have filed a formal Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request with the school board to reveal how much taxpayer money has been wasted on the case to date.

“Our friends and neighbors in East Brunswick should be clear on the facts here,” said Hatikvah board member and spokeswoman Pam Mullins. “Three times the school board has attempted with specious arguments to try to shut down our school, and each challenge has been rejected out of hand. The last three state education commissioners, the career attorneys in the attorney general’s office, and now three independent judges have all said the same thing: Hatikvah has a valid charter and has the right to deliver a high quality, dual language curriculum to the families who choose Hatikvah as the best educational option for their children.

“We would have hoped that the school board would heed its fiduciary responsibilities to East Brunswick’s taxpayers and stop this pointless fight, which has already wasted tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars without accomplishing anything other than unfairly punishing a group of parents and students who believe in our approach. Sadly, the school board decided last week to file yet another frivolous appeal and throw away even more precious resources that should be spent on preparing all of East Brunswick’s students to succeed in career and life.

“We believe that our fellow citizens should be aware of exactly how much this baseless case, which the town is actually subsidizing both sides of, is costing them. That’s why we filed this OPRA request — East Brunswick’s taxpayers have a right to know how their public funds are being used, or in this case, misused.”

East Brunswick Patch: Hatikvah Files OPRA for Access to Legal Fees

In a letter regarding the recent approval of the Hatikvah school charter, Bruce Papkin suggests the motive behind those individuals who initially proposed the school might be either greed or “because they believed that the state should pay for their children to be taught in a non-secular setting”.

Well, as an East Brunswick resident for nearly 20 years, with three children in the blue-ribbon East Brunswick school system and a fourth
currently attending Hatikvah, perhaps I can shed some light on this issue and assure Mr. Papkin that it was for none of those reasons.  First, let me clarify that we are not founding individuals of Hatikvah nor are we Jewish.  Although I agree that the charter debate raises some valid questions, our reasons for choosing Hatikvah were not because we were dissatisfied with the public system or that we were seeking a religious
education that could be provided by a private school.  In fact, one could argue that it was because of the rigor with which the district prepared our older children that when the choice arose for a school with language immersion from kindergarten, we seized the opportunity.

Now in our second year at Hatikvah, I can confidently assure Mr. Papkin and anyone else who may ask, that it was the right choice.  Hatikvah is much more than a public school; it is a learning community.  All are welcomed.   Although the Hebrew language is taught, there is certainly no religious agenda, and no religious education of any type has been taught to our son. He has, however, learned a great deal more about cultural differences and the importance of tolerance than did our other children at this point in their education, and has friends of all religious and non-religious persuasions with whom he has the freedom to discuss religious issues that may be viewed as “politically incorrect” in other classrooms (and yes, I am also an educator).  Those individuals involved with Hatikvah are certainly not in it for the money, or if they are, they clearly choose to work incredibly hard for it.  Compared with the education that our other children received through the public system, we perceive the charter focus as neither better nor worse but rather quite different.  We work more directly with everyone from classroom teachers to the principal, and they in turn are much more involved with us.  For example, our son’s assistant teacher last year is his primary teacher this year, and this continuum has enabled us both to work more closely in addressing his particular learning needs.

So no, Mr. Papkin, perhaps the answer to your questions is that the individuals who chose to found Hatikvah did so for reasons that go beyond the obvious, that is to say there is a difference in having the opportunity to choose one’s education rather than for it to be chosen.  This may or may not be the case for all charter schools, but it is the reason that we choose to support them.

Erin Christensen

East Brunswick

We are delighted that the State Appeals Court unanimously turned down the East Brunswick challenge to Hatikvah’s Charter. Please see Press statement below:

Hatikvah Charter School Calls On East Brunswick To Drop Wasteful Lawsuit After Third Straight Court Loss

The Hatikvah International Academy Charter School Board issued the following statement in response to the State Appeals Court’s unanimous ruling today upholding the school’s charter.

“Today’s definitive ruling by the Superior Court Appellate Division should settle once and for all that our charter is 100 percent valid, that the East Brunswick Board of Education’s challenge is totally without merit, and that our school has every right to serve the families who actively sought out the high-quality dual-language program we provide.

“Three times East Brunswick has brought a meritless challenge to try to shut down our school, and each challenge has failed. The state education commissioner, the career attorneys in the attorney general’s office, and now three independent judges have all said the same thing: Hatikvah’s charter is valid and its service to students should continue.

“It is now time for East Brunswick to drop its case, which has already wasted tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars without accomplishing anything other than unfairly punishing a group of families who chose this school as the best educational option for their children.
“To continue with this frivolous appeal would only squander more precious tax dollars that should be spent on preparing all of East Brunswick’s students to succeed in career and life — not subsidizing bogus lawsuits. Our residents and our children deserve better than that, and we hope that the East Brunswick School Board will soon come to the same conclusion.”

*Full Court Ruling*

*Star Ledger*