Dear Friends,
As many are looking at the NYC mayoral race as a crucible for the issues they care about most, the YAFFED team eagerly awaits the results of next week’s primary. The crisis of educational neglect in yeshivas is a topic the leading candidates are certainly familiar with, as demonstrated during a recent mayoral forum. While every candidate agrees that “ all children, regardless of where they go to school, should receive a sound basic education”, when pressed about holding failing yeshivas accountable—by removing public funding if they refuse to teach basic subjects—most of their answers tell a different story. Shortly after the debate, two of the candidates who stated they would not restrict funding to failing yeshivas received endorsements from Hasidic leaders in Williamsburg. Many experts say that winning Hasidic voters is essential to any successful mayoral campaign: “ Politicians running for New York City mayor hope to have the big four — business, labor, real estate and the Hasidic community” writes Christina Greer, associate professor at Fordham University and co-host of FAQ.NYC podcast. The problem with this, as anyone familiar with the Hasidic community can attest, is that politicians cynically treat Hasidic voters as a single entity that can be acquired entirely in one fell swoop by working out a deal with leaders for an endorsement. Treating Hasidic voters as a monolith only serves to suppress dissent from any one individual. Ignoring the needs of individual voters (and their children) is just purely cynical politics… and it isn’t very democratic, is it?
Whoever the next mayor is, we commit to holding them accountable.
Now for some good news! An appeals court ruled unanimously yesterday to uphold New York State’s right to regulate yeshivas and establish mechanisms of enforcement. Yesterday’s decision concluded that the New York State Education Department acted within its authority by promulgating regulations on yeshiva curricula in 2022. While these same regulations were recently weakened by state leaders in a political deal, this court decision upholds NYSED’s role as education regulators and clarifies the mechanisms of enforcement available to them. YAFFED is proud to have submitted an amicus briefing to the case. The ruling confirms what we at YAFFED have said countless times: not only does the state have the right to intervene, the state has the obligation to intervene when schools are not meeting their legal and moral responsibilities to their students. Read on below for more news and updates! Thank you for being a part of YAFFED’s movement for educational equality. Sincerely,
Adina Mermelstein Konikoff
Executive Director, YAFFED
We’re Hiring! Are you passionate about educational equality? Do you care about the future of yeshiva education? Want to join a team of kind, bold, and thoughtful people working together to solve a crucial and complex issue? Come work with us!The YAFFED staff is expanding – and we’re seeking a new Development Manager. Check out the job description here. If this job sounds like a good fit for someone you know, please forward them the link.
In The News: Cayla Bamberger wrote about yesterday’s court decision in the New York Daily News, noting that “ The regulations — intended to clarify a century-old law — initially drew the ire of many independent schools. But as the Education Department worked with various programs and their associations on different ways to demonstrate compliance that would not be too burdensome, seemingly all but some yeshivas dropped their opposition to the new rules.” For more details about yesterday’s court ruling, see coverage from Nancy Cutler in Lohud here and Dan Clark at the Albany Times Union here. Mayor Eric Adams is working overtime to retain the support of the Hasidic community as he looks to stay focused, ignore distractions, and grind enough to successfully fend off his eventual Democratic challenger. Recently, Adams attempted to drum up goodwill with Hasidic voters by ordering the sudden removal of a stretch of bike lane in Brooklyn at the request of Hasidic leaders, only to be thwarted this week by a lawsuit from an Orthodox Jewish cyclist. As mayor, Adams was forced to take some action regarding yeshiva education requirements when State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa ordered the city to complete their stalled investigation into failing yeshivas throughout the city. After the backlash his predecessor Bill De Blasio received for interfering to stop the investigation as part of a political deal, Mayor Adams found himself in a tough spot, eventually offering reassurance that his DOE would conclude the investigation. When the DOE investigation did conclude in June 2023, it determined that two-thirds of the yeshivas under investigation were not providing students with a basic education. Since then, Adams has consistently heaped praise on yeshivas, even going as far as stating, laughably (though he appeared to be serious), that public schools should be substantially equivalent to yeshivas. A new study in Israel examined data from the American Community Survey to compare the differences in economic outcomes, educational attainment, and workforce participation between Haredi communities in Israel and the US. Check out this article by Shlomo Teitelbaum at Ynet for more. In Politico, Madina Touré covered the Mayoral Forum at B’nai Jeshurun, going into further detail on each candidate’s position on substantial equivalency enforcement in yeshivas, and how there may be greater implications for another big election in New York. | 
