A group of religious schools in the city, which includes a large number of yeshiva, are pushing against the new inspection rules, believing it would violate their rights to provide education to children.
Schools have sent 180,000 letters to the education department on Tuesday opposing the draft guidelines for new measures on religious institutions.
While state officials say the inspection will ensure a fair education to students, schools say the action hinders their ability to give religious education to Jewish children.
Under the proposal, non-public schools would be required to obtain accreditation, or register through the state, or demonstrate academic progress in state-approved examinations. Schools that do not comply must submit for review by their local school districts.
“We’ve done a wonderful job educating our children,” wrote Aaron Tversky, a Brooklyn Law School professor and Yeshiva parent, to state officials. “They are deeply religious, highly disciplined, hardworking and hardworking.”
He continued: “What you propose is an attack on Orthodoxy and Chassidic. Your surveillance is not needed and is not welcome.”
Other Jewish leaders were grateful for what they claimed was a non-intrusive oversight for yeshiva, which has been criticized for lacking basic instruction.
“These rules seriously need to be tightened to address our concerns,” said Neftuli Mostar, head of the nonprofit Young Advocates for Fair Education. “But they are definitely a step in the right direction.”
Moster claimed that some Christians were coerced into submitting public commentary. The group also raised concerns about misinformation in the community.
“If they haven’t received your comment, you are automatically considered suspicious,” Mostar said. “Many parents have told me ‘I have in the comments’ that big pile Because I was scared.'”
The proposed guideline is another push by the Department of Education to ensure that free and parochial schools must legally provide an education that is at least “substantially equivalent” to that offered in the public school sector.
Previous attempts at greater oversight were met with resistance from a wide range of independent school groups, from elite Manhattan private schools to Catholic schools.
“Catholic schools are the very model for education in America, and we have the test scores and graduation rates to prove it,” said superintendent of Catholic schools at the Archdiocese of New York, Michael Deegan. “While we welcome any measure of our rigorous academics, we remain concerned with the notion of local school districts being somehow empowered to be the arbiters of such investigations.”
The archdiocese said they are confident in the state’s education department to “balance” between schools and state standards.
“As the Board of Regents certainly understands, parents educating their children in private schools dig deep in their pockets because they want their children to have an educational experience that is largely Different from – not sufficiently equal Two – the experience they would have in public school,” wrote Michael Schuttloffel, executive director of the Council for American Private Education.
“It is important to remember that even without highly prescriptive government regulation, private schools are already accountable to those who exercise ultimate authority over them: their parent bodies,” the letter continues. “If parents are dissatisfied with the education their child is getting in a private school, they are completely free to vote with their feet and enroll their child in another school.”
The amendments create flexibility for some private schools, which opposed the earlier draft by exempting accredited schools, such as those through the New York State Association of Independent Schools, from strict oversight. One letter said it reflected “wrong concern for the preferences of private schools rather than the rights of students”.
“A regulation has to stay within the limits or limits of the law, and these are unaddressed exceptions,” said David Bloomfield, a professor of education law and policy at Brooklyn College and CUNY Graduate Center.
Education officials will review hundreds of thousands of letters over the next few months, then roll back the rules in the fall.
A spokeswoman for the New York State Department of Education said the agency had not yet counted the letters, and did not know whether it was the largest volume received on the proposed regulation.
“New York state law requires education provided in public schools to be equal to that provided to all students in non-public schools,” agency spokesman JP O’Hare said. “Therefore the Department has an obligation under law to ensure that all students receive an education that enables them to fulfill their potential and enables them to support themselves and their families, contribute to society and participate in civic life.” Helps to develop the necessary skills and knowledge for
