Video: YAFFED Press Conf - De Blasio, Farina, Felder Slammed

I reported on the upcoming press conference on Thursday -

YAFFED Press Conf to Protest Sham Rules for Hasidic and Orthodox Schools

Leonie Haimson was there as was former teacher and now city councilman Danny Dromm (head of the powerful finance committee) and David Bloomfield. And a now former IDC Senator whose name I won't mention - our pal Robert Jackson is primarying her.

Here is the complete video I took. I have some experience with the Hasidic political machine, having worked in District 14 in Williamsburg where they used to elect 3 out of the 9 members of the school board despite having no kids in the public schools - well some kids, but that a long a sordid story. They could have elected all 9 members if they wanted to. The deals made were astounding and as a Jew it was especially disconcerting to see how the 95% of the kids of color in the district were marginalized. Eventually $7 million dollars was "disappeared" illegally, which led to an invasion of the district office by the FBI and the US Postal Service. Both Superintendents died at an early age from cancer so there was a convenient excuse to put the blame on them and no one was every prosecuted. I could go on - but here we have former students at these school talking about how they were denied an education as the schools violated state ed laws which apply to every school. I asked if they get money from the state and city and he said YES - so these schools are not free to do what they want.

By the way - in our earliest years of teaching many of my friends had after school jobs in these schools to teach secular subjects and they said it was brutal work -- the kids disinterested and harder to teach than the public school kids.

These Hasidic communities have very high welfare rates - with Kiryas Joel, New York being the poorest in the nation - no talk about welfare queens - maybe kings in this case.

https://vimeo.com/263492801