 They were generally governed by local boards of directors and supported through a combination of donations, charity benefits, and tuition collections.”

Benderly was inspired by the writings of Johann Pestalozzi, Herbert Spencer, and John Dewey, and the concept of cultural Zionism.His goal was to modernize Jewish education by making it more professional and “creating an immigrant-based, progressive supplementary school model, and spreading the mantra of community responsibility for Jewish education.” Unlike some branches of traditional Jewish education, Benderly stressed cognitive learning and “continued to view as core knowledge Hebrew and Judaism’s classical texts.”

He developed a model of education that has also been called the "Protestant Model," because it followed the typical schooling model of Protestants in the United States, which separated general education and religious education.It is described as "a philosophical belief that state-funded schools should teach patriotism, civics, and critical skills while separate denominational-sponsored supplementary school should teach religious doctrine and practice."