State education officials on Tuesday adopted new guidelines for cracking down on religious and other private schools.
The New York Board of Regents unanimously approved the measures after a years-long push by advocates to make sure Hasidic Jewish schools are teaching basic subjects such as English and math.
“This is a milestone in terms of what has been a fairly lengthy process,” Jim Baldwin, senior deputy commissioner at the state Education Department, told reporters last week.
The regulations require that private schools — including some yeshivas criticized for not offering secular instruction — provide an education “substantially equivalent” to what’s offered by their public counterparts.
Nonpublic schools have faced such requirements since 1895 as part of the state’s compulsory education law, officials have said. But there was little enforcement without guidelines for how to enforce the rules.
New York’s approximately 1,800 private schools will now be subject to oversight such as state-approved exams or accreditors to make sure the institutions meet academic standards.
New York state education officials passed new oversight rules for religious and other private schools. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesOtherwise, they must submit to review by the education agency in their area or the schools chancellor for New York City.
Schools under local review must also show they meet some other legislative requirements, from gym classes to drug- and alcohol-abuse education.
The rules have faced intense backlash from ultra-Orthodox Jewish leaders and some of their supporters, who argue the measures infringe on religious education.
The Regents vote followed a New York Times report finding that some students at yeshivas have been denied basic education, such as in science or social studies, and subjected to corporal punishment — all while the schools reaped a total of more than $1 billion in government funding in recent years.
The regulations require private schools such as yeshivas to provide an education that is “substantially equivalent” to what is offered at public schools. Paul MartinkaState officials have repeatedly said that the regulations don’t involve religious instruction — rather, they ensure education on subjects such as reading, math and history to meet the long-standing education law.
The new rules take Sept. 28.
Schools will have to demonstrate their secular instruction is comparable to that of local public schools by the end of 2023. If they don’t, local education officials will conduct reviews by the end of the 2024-25 school year.
Timelines may be extended “assuming that there is good faith progress,” Baldwin said.
