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.
Cayla Bamberger of the New York Daily News first reported on this development on February 18th, calling it “the first major test of how education officials will enforce controversial regulations of failing religious programs”. In the JTA, Asaf Elia-Shalev called it “the most significant set of consequences faced by any school in the ongoing fight between education officials and Hasidic institutions in New York“. The offending yeshivas are set to lose public funding after obstructing the Substantial Equivalency requirement process, with NYSED instructing parents to enroll their children elsewhere.
These letters mark the first time that NYSED has cut off future public funding access and directed parents to disenroll their children from a school due to noncompliance with substantial equivalency requirements. This is obviously something that we’ve been hopeful would never have to happen. These three yeshivas were given ample opportunity to work with NYSED, and refused to engage, and now over 500 children and their parents are left to deal with the consequences.
Why This Matters:
The letters to parents, which were written in English and Yiddish, were issued by NYSED’s Office of Religious and Independent School SuThe letters to parents, which which were written in English and Yiddish, were issued by NYSED’s Office of Religious and Independent School Support to the yeshiva administration of Yeshiva Bnei Shimon Yisroel (13-30 Warsoff Place), Bnei Shimon Yisroel of Sopron (215 Hewes Street), and Talmud Torah of Kasho (324 Penn Street), with the instruction to distribute a copy to the parents of all students within a week of the letter’s writing. The message to the parents states the following:
“Despite multiple attempts and ample opportunities, the school your child(ren) attend(s) failed to demonstrate that it meets the minimum requirements. As a result, it is no longer deemed a school which provides compulsory education fulfilling the requirements of the Education Law. Therefore, you are required to enroll your child(ren) in a different, appropriate educational setting that provides substantially equivalent instruction as required by Education Law 3204 by July 1, 2025, in time for the 2025-2026 school year. Please note that effective June 30, 2025, services and funding to this school and any enrolled student, including but not limited to child nutrition program funds, transportation, and textbooks will be discontinued.”
When 18 yeshivas were deemed noncompliant by the NYC Department of Education in June of 2023, the schools were given until the end of June 2025 to demonstrate improvement. Whether or not they’ll do so remains to be seen, but these three yeshivas have refused to even engage in the process, triggering a more immediate reaction from NYSED.
These yeshivas have a legal, moral, and halachic obligation to provide a sound, basic education to all of their students. A vast majority of yeshivas in New York have been able to meet these requirements, and those who have failed to do so have the full partnership of NYSED in working to become compliant. The three yeshivas who received this letter have refused to engage with the DOE or NYSED, and now find themselves making history (and not in a good way): they’re the first schools the state has ever issued a “final determination” to, a specific date by which their public funding will be cut off – in addition to requesting that parents disenroll their children – due to their noncompliance with substantial equivalency law.
Demonstrating a substantially equivalent curriculum is an obligation that every single school in the state must meet, no excuses. We’ve even advocated to state lawmakers to include the costs of demonstrating substantial equivalency compliance as part of the standard package of funding that yeshivas receive from the state, to better equip schools for participating in the mandatory review process.
One key issue at play when it comes to the compulsory education law are the methods of enforcement. In December 2024, Kaitlyn Sivertsen explained this at length for the Fordham Law Review, laying out some of the impracalities of various methods of enforcement available to authorities and arriving at the conclusion that the most effective solution is witholding funding from individual noncompliant schools. Indeed, that is the path that NYSED has chosen to pursue, with the courts clarifying their power to penalize noncompliance in this manner.
What We’re Doing:
NYSED’s letter to the yeshivas requires them to forward a copy to the parents of each enrolled student.
For the parents of the children enrolled in these yeshivas, it means learning that, despite reassurances of impunity by yeshiva leaders, the yeshivas have now lost future access to public funding beyond this year for lunch, busing, and textbooks as a result of noncompliance with substantial equivalency requirements. It’s also very possible that the three offending yeshivas are withholding key information these parents need to know about the consequences they face for breaking the law. That’s why we’re launching a direct mail campaign to local yeshiva parents in Williamsburg to keep them fully informed on their children’s educational rights and what happens to yeshivas who break the law.
Sending these mailers on a short turnaround prompted by this major development requires resources. We’re likely going to need to do this again if other yeshivas are determined to be obstructing the school review process. We’re also expecting more legal challenges and are preparing for them. We need your support to mobilize a rapid response to all major developments in our fight for educational rights for all students in Hasidic and Haredi yeshivas. Please consider a one-time or recurring donation to our rapid response fund today.
This is a fast-moving development. Want to learn more? We’re hosting an information session on Wednesday, February 26 to explain what’s going on, why this matters, and what you can do to help ensure students get the education they deserve.
How We Got Here:
The steps that NYSED is taking to enforce the law and compel failing schools to provide a sound, basic education is a result of nearly 10 years of advocacy for educational equity. Here are some of the major touchpoints over the course of those 10 years, though if you’ve followed our work it’s more than likely that you know how much collective effort went into arriving at any of these milestones:
2015 – YAFFED Launches Complaint Against 38 Yeshivas:
In July of 2015, YAFFED organized a formal complaint signed by over 50 individuals who were either yeshiva parents or alumni, naming 38 institutions that failed to provide a substantially equivalent education in English, math, science, and history.
2018 – NYC Department of Education Shares Initial Results of Investigation:
In August of 2018, more than 3 years after YAFFED filed its complaint, NYC DOE issued its first report on its investigation, stating that it had been denied access to 15 schools, and declaring 9 more schools to be “outside the scope of inquiry”. The report also stated that 15 yeshivas had been visited and evaluated, with each school expressing a commitment to expanding secular education and improving instruction. A child that started elementary school the September following YAFFED’s July 2015 complaint would have completed 2nd Grade at this point.
2022 – NY State Approves Regulations on Substantial Equivalency:
In September of 2022, the New York State Board of Regents approved new regulations designed to ensure that all private school students receive educations that are at least substantially equivalent to local public schools. The regulations empowered NYSED with a detailed scope of work in evaluating nonpublic schools, providing multiple options for demonstrating compliance, and guidelines for bringing failing schools into compliance. A child that started elementary school the September following YAFFED’s July 2015 complaint would have entered 6th grade at this point.
2023 – NYC Department of Education Releases Report on Yeshiva Investigation:
On June 30, 2023, by order of State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa, NYC DOE releases its reports on evaluations of yeshivas named in the 2015 complaint. The report states that two-thirds of the schools evaluated were still non-compliant. The schools were given 60 days to collaborate with NYC DOE to develop a plan to reach equivalency. A child that started elementary school the September following YAFFED’s July 2015 complaint would have completed 6th grade at this point.
2024 – NY Appellate Court Rules on Enforcement Mechanisms:
In June of 2024, the NY State Appellate Court ruled to clarify the enforcement and possible penalties for schools and parents who do not adhere to the Compulsory Education law, stating that:“Only nonpublic schools that provide substantially equivalent instruction may retain their status” as a school that fulfills the compulsory education requirement.“Parents of students at such school are then obliged to enroll their children in a different appropriate educational setting, consistent with Education Law…and legally required services to the nonpublic school and students will be discontinued.” A child that started elementary school the September following YAFFED’s July 2015 complaint would have completed 7th grade at this point.
2025 – Deadline For Nonpublic Schools to Demonstrate Compliance
By June 30, 2025, every Local School Authority in New York State must complete a substantial equivalency determination for all nonpublic schools operating in their area. Any school found noncompliant would enter a collaborative improvement process with NYSED, including follow-up school reviews as necessary. A child that started elementary school the September following YAFFED’s July 2015 complaint would have completed the 8th grade at this point.