Arabic Public School to Open in New York

During the great emigrations of the past, the immigrants were pretty much forced to assimilate into American culture in order to survive. As a result, the Italians, Irish, Germans, Poles and other foreign nationals did the hard work of fitting into society, including learning the English language if necessary.

Today, not so much:

The Department of Education says that it will open a public school next fall dedicated to Arabic language and culture.

The Khalil Gibran International Academy is one of 40 new schools that will their debut in the city next September.

Education officials say that although half the classes at the school will be taught in Arabic, they want to enroll a diverse student body.

With half the classes in Arabic, just how diverse do you think the student body will be? Are there a lot of non-Arab Arabic speakers that have been hoping for a school of their own?

And of course, they'll be required to stop for prayers several times a day, something which no other religion would be allowed to do in a public school.

You'd think that New York City would be a little bit sensitive about catering to Arabic speaking students. Something about some missing buildings....