By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh
The New York state Education Department proposed new regulations to oversee private school education including ultra-orthodox yeshivas.
As per the NY Daily News, the proposed regulations, which were introduced at the monthly Board of Regents meeting, have already sparked a good deal of criticism from both sides of the spectrum. On one side, critics argue that the new rules won’t do enough to force schools which lag in basic secular education to change their curriculum. On the other end, the private school backers are saying the rules will infringe on the institutions’ ability to provide religious education.
The crux of the issue is a state law which requires private schools to offer an education “substantially equivalent” to public school education. For years now, NYS Education Department officials have been working to make regulations which will define “substantially equivalent”, for enforcement purposes. The newly proposed regulations give private schools a few means of demonstrating that they offer a legally adequate education, including by offering state Education Department-sanctioned exams, or by getting accredited by an outside organization. Schools that can’t meet those criteria would be required to submit to a review by the local school district.
“We appreciate the state’s efforts to remedy the problem by promulgating new regulations,” said Naftuli Moster, a former yeshiva student and founder of the advocacy group YAFFED, which lodged a 2015 complaint against education in yeshivas which led to the spearheading of these proposed state regulations. “We do, however, have serious concerns with some aspects of these regulations,” he added. “At the moment, they include several loopholes that, if left unaddressed, could allow the status quo to continue.”
Agudath Israel, a nonprofit representing Haredi orthodox yeshivas, objected to the proposed rules for different reasons. “Nowhere in the proposed regulations is there any mention of the need to take into account the educational value of religious studies,” the group wrote in a statement. “By ignoring this essential component of yeshiva education, the proposed new regulations may result in yeshivas having to make major changes to their school day schedules … this is entirely unacceptable.” The group insists that the yeshivas’ rigorous and lengthy daily schedule of study in Bible, Mishna and Talmud should have its scholarly value count towards the “substantial equivalency” requirement.
The proposed regulations will be voted on by the Board of Regents in September. If passed, private schools will be required to declare how they plan to meet their legal requirement by Dec. 2023.
