Read the full report here:
Lichtenstein-New-York-Jewish-Education-2025On October 30, 2025 YAFFED announced the release of Jewish Education in New York State, a groundbreaking study authored by Dr. Matty Lichtenstein, a scholar of Jewish education and policy. The report represents the most comprehensive analysis to date of what students in Hasidic and other Jewish schools are being taught — and what the State of New York has failed to assess. The results reveal striking disparities in core instruction, particularly in Hasidic boys’ schools.
Despite overseeing nearly 550 Jewish schools that educate nearly one in seven New York City students, the state has never conducted a curriculum review to determine whether these institutions are meeting basic education standards. Dr. Lichtenstein’s research begins to fill that gap — documenting, in unprecedented detail, the scope of secular educational deprivation across Hasidic boys’ schools.
Key findings from the report demonstrate the depth of educational denial in Hasidic communities:
- Educational Neglect in Hasidic Boys’ Schools: In Hasidic all-boys schools, students receive an average of less than two hours per week of secular education across all subjects — compared to 8–12 hours for Hasidic girls and over 15 hours for Modern Orthodox students.
- Entire Schools Without Secular Studies: At least two Hasidic boys’ schools provide no secular instruction in any grade, and 14 Hasidic high schools offer none at all.
- STEM Denial: Only 13% of Hasidic male high school classes include science, and fewer than one in four teach math.
New York’s leaders have abdicated their responsibility to know, let alone ensure, that children are learning core subjects. This report provides the data the state should have collected long ago. It shows a system where tens of thousands of Hasidic boys are denied even the most basic tools to succeed — all as the state has abandoned oversight of these failing institutions.
Drawing on interviews with 72 educators, parents, and alumni across 85 Jewish schools — covering 171 grades — Dr. Lichtenstein’s team conducted the first detailed accounting of classroom time and subjects taught in Hasidic, Litvish, Sephardic, Modern Orthodox, and Community schools statewide.
“Our goal was to provide the kind of empirical data that policymakers, educators, and families have long lacked,” said Dr. Matty Lichtenstein, author of the report. “Until now, there has been no comprehensive information about what Jewish schools — including Hasidic yeshivas — are actually teaching. These findings reveal variation across communities, but also serious gaps in secular instruction in Hasidic boys’ schools that have long gone unexamined by state authorities.”
Jewish Education in New York State fills a gap in demographic reporting, as New York’s Department of Education does not collect curriculum data or distinguish between Hasidic, Sephardic, or Modern Orthodox schools in its own reporting. Lichtenstein identifies the religious affiliation, gender, and grade levels for all 544 Jewish schools in the state and documents the curricula taught within each category. In total, Hasidic institutions make up 49% of Jewish schools statewide and educate 61% of all Jewish school students.
The widespread educational denial at Hasidic yeshivas has lasting impacts on career opportunities and economic wellbeing in the community, which suffers from disproportionately high poverty levels and limited English proficiency rates. A recent report found that 63% of the Hasidic community lives below or near the poverty line, that the median income for Hasidic men is 30% less than non-Hasidic men, and that as much as 13% of Hasidic male youth speak no English whatsoever.
The effects of this wholesale educational neglect extend far beyond the classroom, We cannot afford to turn a blind eye to this silent crisis. If we do, another generation of Jewish students will graduate without the ability to earn even entry level jobs, condemning them to poverty and underemployment.
The release comes amid continued controversy over the rollback of substantial equivalency regulations, which require nonpublic schools to provide instruction comparable to public education. In the FY2026 budget, state leaders dismantled enforcement mechanisms and postponed school assessments for eight years — precluding state-driven data collection until at least the 2032–2033 school year.
In September, renowned education attorney Michael Rebell filed a lawsuit challenging this rollback, arguing that the state’s actions violate students’ constitutional right to a sound, basic education.“This report makes clear why oversight matters,” said Konikoff. “When the state steps back, children pay the price.”
The report was also translated into Yiddish to make the information available and accessible to the communities YAFFED serves, Click Here to see the report in Yiddish.
Click Here to view the dataset on Jewish Schools’ Curricula
Click Here to view the dataset on Jewish Schools’ Religious Affiliation