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

Lisa North:
I talked to some of the advocates at a PEP meeting last year. They have been attending the PEP for over a year, but no changes. They told me that quite a few Yeshivas do not teach English, science or social studies. Once they finish school, they often cannot find a job because they do not speak English and often end up on welfare.

Thanks to Leonie for posting this. We saw the Yaffed people appear at PEP after PEP about the yeshiva scams where they get money to teacher secular subjects but ignore all rules. I'm going to try and make the press conf if I can.

Brian Lehrer had a segment on Felder holding everything hostage due to the catering to the Hasidic community.
https://www.wnyc.org/story/push-relax-ny-yeshiva-rules

The reporters and Shulem Deen, the author of All Who Go Do Not Return, a memoir about growing up in and then leaving one of the most insular Hasidic sects in the U.S., discuss State Senator Simcha Felder's efforts to ease requirements in New York state law that the education at private religious schools be "substantially equivalent" to that offered at public schools -- and how he almost held up the New York State budget over this.

April 5 Press Conference to Discuss how NY has Betrayed Its Values to Please A Bully and Next Steps in Fight to Protect the Rights of Orthodox Children

 

For immediate release: New York, NY (4/2/18) 
Contact: Naftuli Moster, Exec. Director, naftuli@yaffed.org 

A press conference will be held in front of City Hall to protest how in the NY State budget deal, elected officials rolled back the protection of children’s right to an adequate education.

When: Thursday, April 5, 2018 at 1pm

Where: The steps of City Hall in lower Manhattan

Who: Members of Yaffed, along with former Yeshiva students and invited elected officials 

Why: A new law passed as part of the 2018 NY state budget was crafted specifically to affect only Hasidic and Orthodox Jewish children. It seeks to weaken the NY State Education Department’s ability to provide sufficient oversight to ensure that these children receive an adequate education.

This law was passed as result of the efforts of Simcha Felder, a State Senator from Brooklyn who alone held up the state budget in order to insert language intended to deprive students of their right to a basic education that will prepare them for good-paying jobs and success in life.

New York State law requires non-public schools to provide an education that is “at least substantially equivalent” to that of public schools, so that no student is left in ignorance. The law requires non-public schools to provide instruction in “arithmetic, reading, spelling, writing, the English language, geography, United States history, civics, hygiene, physical training, the history of New York state and science.”

But this law has not been enforced for decades, by either the state or the city. The Mayor and the NYC Department of Education has delayed taking any action for over two and a half years, even after they had promised to do so repeatedly. The NY Commissioner of Education was in the process of drafting new guidelines to enforce the law, which apparently prompted Sen. Felder’s actions to attempt to exempt Yeshivas from meeting any educational standards. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of children are not receiving the basic education to which they are entitled.

At the press conference, advocates from Yaffed, former Yeshiva students and elected officials will speak out against extremists who are strong-arming our government to block sensible education policies, and. will discuss next steps in the fight to protect the human rights of all children to be adequately educated.

For more information on Yaffed’s five-year campaign to achieve a better education for ultra-Orthodox children, see www.yaffed.org

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