Credit: Getty Images.
Two years ago, New York took the entirely appropriate step of requiring private schools to show that they are teaching children some of the fundamental things they need to know in order to function as citizens.
Controversial as it was, it was the right move for kids, and for our society.
The deadline for schools to show they are complying with that “substantial equivalency” mandate falls at the end of the 2024-25 school year.
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But now, amid state budget talks, there are reports that the deadline will be delayed as some schools, particularly yeshivas, continue to lobby against the requirement.
The Legislature should not backtrack on this policy.
We respect the right of people to raise their children according to their spiritual beliefs and values – as long as that doesn’t cause harm to the child. Denying children the kind of basic education they are entitled to under the state’s constitution crosses that line. Abundant reporting, including a 2022 investigation by The New York Times, demonstrated the damage done.
Recognizing that, the state Board of Regents in 2022 decided that all private schools must teach classes in English and ensure all students study math, science, history and English. If they failed to do so, they risked losing state recognition as a school, forcing children to be educated elsewhere under the state’s compulsory education rules.
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Unfortunately, some ultra-orthodox Jewish schools and their supporters want to focus strictly on religious study to the exclusion of subjects that all public school students are normally taught, and to teach in Yiddish rather than English. As Rabbi Abraham Klein, an ultra-Orthodox community leader from Orange County, put it a few months ago, "So many subjects are against our religion” – including, as he sees it, science. And he defended the idea of maintaining a Yiddish-speaking community.
As the Times Union’s Joshua Solomon reports, this push to undo or delay the Board of Regents’ mandate appears to be gaining some momentum in back-room budget negotiations.
Lawmakers should consider the damage they will do in further delaying requirements that should have been enforced long ago. Every school year that children receive a substandard education is another year of lost learning that’s unlikely to ever be made up.
To deny a child the kind of basic education they need to function as citizens in our society potentially denies them the options and opportunities that such an education provides. And it can leave them at such a substantial disadvantage that they become dependent as adults on the state for support.
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To insist that schools meet certain minimum standards is not some unreasonable burden on religion. Many yeshivas and other parochial schools have long found ways to divide the day to provide both religious instruction and teaching on secular topics.
It is simply not in children’s interest, or New York’s, to waver on this. Or to delay it.
Editorial: Don’t backtrack on kids
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19.04.2024
Credit: Getty Images.
Two years ago, New York took the entirely appropriate step of requiring private schools to show that they are teaching children some of the fundamental things they need to know in order to function as citizens.
Controversial as it was, it was the right move for kids, and for our society.
The deadline for schools to show they are complying with that “substantial equivalency” mandate falls at the end of the 2024-25 school year.
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
But now, amid state budget talks, there are reports that the deadline will be delayed as some schools, particularly yeshivas, continue to lobby against the requirement.
The Legislature should not backtrack on this policy.
We respect the right of people to raise........
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