Eighteen ultra-Orthodox yeshivas are not providing students with a secular education that meets state standards, city officials said Friday, concluding an eight-year investigation that faced lengthy delays and alleged political interference.
The finding by the Department of Education follows years of allegations from yeshiva graduates and parents that the schools run by the Hasidic Jewish community teach little English and offer barely any instruction in topics like math, science and history.
“Most schools were cooperative and worked with the DOE over the course of this review. A small number of schools were uncooperative with the DOE’s review,” education spokesperson Nathaniel Styer said.
He described the investigation of a total of 25 yeshivas as “thorough” and “fair.”
The city declared four yeshivas out of compliance with state standards outright. It recommended the state conclude 14 other yeshivas are also out of compliance. Five other yeshivas were found to meet standards thanks to partnerships with registered high schools. Only two yeshivas were found to be in compliance with state standards.
In one example, at Yeshiva Bnei Shimon Yisroel of Sopron in South Williamsburg, investigators observed no secular instruction at all, with lessons taught only in Yiddish. The school also refused follow-up visits.
The city began the investigation in 2015, following a complaint that students were not receiving a basic secular education. The investigation faced long delays, and the city’s Department of Investigation attributed some of those delays to “political horsetrading” in the de Blasio administration. Then-Mayor Bill de Blasio denied the allegation.
If the state upholds the city’s finding, the schools will be required to come into state standards for an education “substantially equivalent” to one offered at public schools. The law, however, does not make clear what penalties the school will face if they don’t meet standards.
The education department said it will work with those officially deemed non compliant to improve their academic offerings. “[O]ur goal is to educate children, not to punish the adults,” Styer said in a statement.
Beatrice Weber, executive director of Young Advocates for Fair Education (YAFFED), which has lobbied fiercely for better instruction at the schools, said her group is “cautiously optimistic” about some of the findings. But she said members “remain concerned” that certain schools could be given a pass due to loopholes in the legislation – such as the regulation that says elementary schools can meet standards simply by virtue of being connected to registered high schools. “These schools were not given a thorough review, and as long as schools are able to receive a rubber stamp of approval without real oversight, students will continue to be deprived of a basic education,” Weber said.
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