Plus: Legal Win + We’re hiring! 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
“Is it time to actually resolve the issue rather than continue talking?” At a mayoral candidate forum at B’nai Jeshurun on June 8, 2025, moderator and NY1 reporter Errol Louis asked the candidates what they would do to address the systemic crisis of educational neglect in Hasidic and Haredi yeshivas and if they would be
This is an online edition of the YAFFED Monthly Update newsletter for May 2025. Sign up here to receive this newsletter and other YAFFED updates in your inbox. Join us on zoom this Monday at 5pm – Supporters’ Briefing Plus: Mayoral Forum on June 8, What we know about the budget bill, and more. Last
The above news segment aired on Spectrum News on Thursday night, March 27, 2025, with reporting by Kate Lisa. For more, visit Spectrum News or read segments from the article below: State Education Department: Don’t play politics with nonpublic school standards State Education Department officials told Gov. Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders Thursday not to
This Blog post is the first in a series where we’ll share a deeper look into some of the qualitative research and quantitative data that we’ve gathered and analyzed on the yeshiva sector. We’ll soon have the ability to map out in a much clearer fashion just how well New York’s yeshivas are performing, allowing us to
February 18, 2025 Last week, the New York State Education Department issued letters to three Brooklyn yeshivas who have obstructed the department’s ongoing school review process that they are no longer designated schools that teach compulsory education, an unprecedented and important first step that we hope serves as a wakeup call for other noncompliant schools.
YAFFED Senior Advisor Beatrice Weber testifying at the Joint Legislative Budget Hearing – Elementary Education/Secondary Education on 1/29/25. Testimony of Beatrice Weber, Senior Advisor, YAFFEDJoint Legislative Public Hearing on the 2025 Executive Budget Proposal: Elementary & Secondary EducationJanuary 29, 2025 Good morning, Chairs Krueger, Pretlow, Benedetto, Mayer, and members of the committee. Thank you for
by Adina Mermelstein Konikoff, YAFFED Executive Director The following appeared as an Op-ed in amNY on Tuesday, January 21, 2025 When Chaim left his Hasidic yeshiva at 16, he entered New York City public schools far behind in essential subjects like math, science, and history. Catching up was a monumental challenge, made even harder by
Advocates against yeshiva oversight like Law Professor Michael A. Helfand are missing the mark on what should happen next after a Court ruling affirmed regulations to yeshivas By Christopher Hazen, Attorney, Counselor at Law, YAFFED On July 22, 2024 Professor Michael A. Helfand at Pepperdine University’s Caruso School of Law in Malibu, California authored an
Beatrice Weber joins Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz from Uri L’tzedek, an Orthodox social justice organization, for an interview to discuss how the value of כל ישראל ערבים זה בזה (every Jew is responsible for one another), is crucial in advocating for Hasidic children to receive a basic education. Watch the recording here or listen to it
Beatrice Weber joins Abigail Pogrebin on JBS to discuss YAFFED’s mission of improving education in Hasidic and Haredi schools.
The Appellate Division issued a ruling on Thursday, June 27th, that makes clear the State’s ability to enforce regulations over yeshivas. The case, which was heard in March at Albany Law School, was an appeal of a decision last April to strike down two provisions of the regulations that would have allowed the New York
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