NYS leaders accused of 'gutting' regulations for ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools, new lawsuit alleges
Attorney Michael Rebell at a news conference Thursday at state Supreme Court in Brooklyn. Credit: Ed Quinn
New York State improperly scaled back its standards for non-public religious schools and is failing to ensure that children at certain ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools receive a “sound basic education,” according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn on behalf of four current and former students at such schools.
Certain ultra-Orthodox schools provide “minimal instruction” by inadequately trained teachers, according to the lawsuit against Gov. Kathy Hochul, state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
The plaintiffs are three boys ages 8, 11 and 13 who live in Brooklyn and whose parents are suing on their behalf, and a 24-year-old man in Rockland County, all identified only by the initials A.B., C.D., E.F. and I.J.
Their attorneys include Michael Rebell, executive director of the Center for Educational Equity at Teachers College, Columbia University and co-founder of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity Inc., the nonprofit whose lawsuit forced the state to overhaul the way it funds schools.
At a news conference outside the State Supreme Court in Brooklyn on Thursday morning, Rebell accused state officials of engaging in “back room” discussions and “gutting” the law mandating "substantial equivalency" in the education provided by public and non-public schools.
Three years ago, the Board of Regents approved new rules requiring local officials to make sure private schools were offering education that was substantially equivalent to public schools, among other changes meant to tighten standards.
Hochul and the two legislative leaders added language to this year’s state budget that loosens testing standards for the religious schools and delays the implementation of certain educational standards for up to eight years, the lawsuit states.
The change took place “without any hearings, without any committee meetings or any discussion,” said Roger Tilles, at-large member of the Board of Regents, which oversees education in the state. “It's too bad when partisan politics gets in the way of good public policy.”
Tilles said that all schools in Nassau and Suffolk counties comply with state law.
Representatives for Hochul, Heastie and Stewart-Cousins did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.
A spokesman for the state Department of Education declined to comment, noting that the pending litigation concerns laws and regulations administered by the agency.
Class-action status sought
The “educational deficiencies” of certain ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools “are of concern not only to the students involved but also to society at large, because students at these schools receive no education whatsoever in civics and other subjects that will prepare them to function productively as civic participants and as capable voters,” the lawsuit states. Certain schools’ graduates also receive “minimal instruction” in reading, math and other core subjects, according to the lawsuit.
Rebell said the plaintiffs are seeking class-action status for the lawsuit so they can represent as many as 100,000 students statewide who attend ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools. “This is a systemic problem,” he said after the news conference.
Young Advocates for Fair Education is a nonprofit that advocates for secular education standards at ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools. Executive director Adina Mermelstein Konikoff said some ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools provide an “excellent” education to their students, including some on Long Island. But others fall far short, she said.
"We are not going to rest until our state guarantees true education for all of our children," she said.
Maura McDermott covers education. Since joining Newsday in 2012, she also has worked on the investigations team and covered real estate and the business of health care.
