Editorial | The Lightning Round

Dangers lurk in the world, to be sure. But not everything that touches Arabic language and culture are among them.

Unfortunately, hysteria is high over the Kahlil Gibran International Academy, New York City's first public school focusing on Arabic culture and language. Some are claiming it will teach radical Islamic ideology.

They might have heard that the academy's first principal, a Muslim, wore a head covering, and they ignorantly associated it with extremists. The principal committed no wrong by wearing it.

She should have been more sensitive, however, about comments regarding T-shirts with the phrase "Intifada NYC." The shirts are not connected to the school.

The Arabic root of the word simply means "shaking off," but she should have known better than to explain such a hot-button word in so cavalier a way.

It only fed a false image about the school she no longer will lead.

The academy's curriculum is not infused with vile teachings that pervert one of the world's great religions and cultures. Named after the famous author, it will include the basics and then emphasize a people's heritage - but that's no innovation.

Nor will it be shocking if Arabic students, Muslim and non-Muslim, are especially interested in attending class there.

Why shouldn't they learn about the culture and language of their parents in a public school, just as many other ethnic groups do?

Pennsylvania gun owners survived the brief shutdown of the state system for doing criminal background checks for a database update. Since gun buyers must pass a criminal history check, gun sales were temporarily halted.

Some pro-gun zealots had shamefully cried that the update, coming at the start of a hunting season, was an anti-gun tactic by Gov. Rendell and others smart enough to back reasonable firearms laws.

Reasonable is a key concept in the gun debate. The zealots who got so worked up over the computer update should try embracing it.

If a contractor doesn't perform, the employer ought to demand better service or cut ties with the company. That's especially true for a public entity that is trying to wade out of a financial mess.

Philadelphia School District officials say Aramark, which was hired in 2005 to run cafeterias in 115 out of 270 schools, guaranteed it would eliminate the $3.5 million annual operating deficit the district had accumulated. But Aramark hasn't done that two years into a five-year contract.

District officials aren't saying the exact deficit Aramark had last year, but they don't need any more red ink as they scramble to close a $20 million hole in the overall budget.

Exercising the yearly option-to-renew clause in the Aramark contract needs to be considered. In these tight times, delivering high-quality food isn't enough. Contractors must do so affordably.

Jayne King truly is royalty. One of New Jersey's and the nation's best elementary school math teachers, she is retiring after three decades in the classroom.

Last spring, she was one of 93 U.S. teachers to receive the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

The achievement that won her the honor was impressive - especially to the math-challenged. She taught the concepts of perimeter and area to students at Hartford School in Mount Laurel using an innovative, interactive lesson. She encouraged kids to take risks, to get answers by learning how to ask the right questions.

May King's retirement be filled with the love of discovery she clearly passed on to her students.