Orthodox Jewish schools must meet educational standards, says New York state
This measure means that many ultra-Orthodox schools in the Hasidic Jewish community will spend virtually all of their time studying the Jewish scriptures, the Torah and the Talmud, and will be required to study English, mathematics, and mathematics as required by state law. It comes years after accusations of not giving children the education and skills of Science and Social Studies, and a few other topics.
State officials said they expect schools and local districts to work together to certify that schools meet the required standards.it may be optimistic Given Yeshiva’s claims that the entire surveillance process is ineffective, and their resistance to past investigations and interrogations.
New rules set to be approved by state councils next week set new tests for religious freedom and schooling, and people on both sides of the debate predicted the dispute would be appealed in court. highest level.
“It will be brought to the Supreme Court within a year,” said Naftuli Moster, who attended a Hasidic yeshiva in Brooklyn as a child. Frustrated by the substandard education he received, in 2012 he founded the Young Advocates for Fair Education (Yaffed), a group calling for research and enforcement.
The Hasidic community, which has long run its own schools, has lashed out at efforts to monitor curricula and classes, saying it violates their right to provide religious education as they see fit. Parents, they say, have the right to send their children to schools that align with their values and beliefs.
Perls, a coalition of New York yeshivas who have been vocal on the issue, described the regulation as an effort to “direct” the curriculum and faculty.
“Those who want state control can choose public schools,” the group said in a statement. And giving a defiant impression, he added: “New York parents have chosen yeshiva education for over 120 years and will continue to do so with or without the blessing and support of Albany’s state leaders.”
But critics say the system punishes children who are never taught basic skills such as reading and writing English, basic arithmetic, and understanding the wider world around them.
In 2019, after a lengthy delay that city investigators found to be linked to political interference, the New York Department of Education found that 26 of the 28 yeshivas it investigated did not meet the criteria. did.
New York’s efforts are also due in part to courts requiring educational institutions to make these rules formal, rather than leaving them as mere guidance. Officials said about 350,000 public comments were received, most of which expressed “philosophical opposition” to the state’s regulation of nonpublic schools.
Jim Balwyn, a senior vice-committee on education policy in New York, said, “This rule recognizes that parents have the constitutional right to send their children to religious schools, and that we believe in the worldview of those schools.” I respect that I respect the “We work together to ensure that all students receive the education they deserve.”
Since 1895, New York State law has required that children attending nonpublic schools be provided with an education “substantially equivalent” to that given to children of the same age in their local public schools. Private and religious schools are free to offer instruction on additional topics, but must teach core subjects.
Moster said many primary and secondary schools may have these yeshiva students receive 90 minutes of secular education each day. In high school, girls study a few secular subjects, while boys attend a separate school and study only ancient Jewish texts. Even though I lived in it, I graduated without functional English. They know little about secular history and have not even studied the Holocaust, he said.
The logic is that secular learning is not necessary to function and thrive in a closed Hasidic community. .
He estimated that there were 160 Hasidic yeshivas, half of whom were boys and half of whom were girls. This does not include his more than 100 others in Orthodoxy, the broader movement of highly observant Jews, but the fact that the school focused almost entirely on Jewish learning. It does not include orthodox Hasids who are claimed to be For example, regular Jewish day schools offer both religious and secular education.
Under the new rules, nonpublic schools have several options to demonstrate that they offer substantially equivalent education. For example, schools that are accredited by an accrediting body or participate in the International Baccalaureate program are automatically considered compliant.
But Hasidic schools at the center of the controversy are unlikely to qualify under the pathways offered, and if not, local school districts are responsible for ensuring compliance with the rules. , emphasized that districts have long had this responsibility under the law, even though these provisions have been ignored for decades.
“We think we need enforcement,” Moster said Friday. He said yeshivas, no longer considered schools, would lose the funding they depended on, and that “funding itself would become a carrot and a stick.”
The regulations require that mathematics, science, English arts and social studies be taught in English by competent teachers. Educational programs should be offered to students with limited English proficiency.
New York law also requires instruction in several other areas, and regulations require nonpublic schools to show that they offer it. These include patriotism and citizenship. History and Meaning of the US Constitution, Declaration of Independence, New York State Constitution. physical education; alcohol, drug, and tobacco health education (excluding sex education); injury prevention;
