This article reports on two Mideast-themed schools which have attracted fierce controversy amplified in the news media and the blogosphere. A new public school with a focus on Arabic language and culture is set to open in New York City this week, after being assailed for months by opponents who claim it will be a taxpayer-funded Islamic school sympathetic to extremist political views. In Broward County, Florida, meanwhile, a new charter school designed around the teaching of Hebrew language and culture is contending with charges that it will unavoidably teach religion, in violation of the First Amendment. Both schools declare that their intentions are mainstream--and completely legal--and that they will be under the supervision of their local school districts. But the schools have attracted fierce controversy, and the decibel level has tended to drown out the underlying discussion of the value and risks of language-oriented and culturally themed public schools. This main points of this discussion are presented here.