In 2012, alumni of the New York Hasidic school system formed a group named Young Advocates for Fair Education (Yaffed) and voiced allegations that these schools, in particular boys schools, provide little to no secular education, thus initiating an ongoing campaign to bring about improvement in this matter through litigation and media exposure. These activities were met with fierce opposition from Hasidic school and community leaders who viewed it as an attack on the community's religious lifestyle, and in turn formed an organization called PEARLS (Parents for Educational and Religious Liberty in Schools), with a stated goal of defending the right to give children a religious education and to satisfy mandatory educational standards in a way that fits with the community's values.
New York officials and news media had known of the issue as far back as 2003, but did not wish to address it publicly. Yaffed's consistent activities also failed to garner support from officials, initially. A six-month Jewish Week feature in 2015 revealed details of the state of education at Hasidic yeshivas, but the reporters similarly struggled to involve dignitaries.
In 2015, a letter to the New York City Department of Education from 52 parents, former students and teachers naming specific schools ultimately had the effect, and the city, in a rare move in the history of nonpublic schools in New York, especially yeshivas, launched an investigation. The probe stretched eight years due to an accommodating approach taken towards the schools, noncooperation of some schools, a political deal between legislators and the mayor's office, and alleged further political interference. Upon concluding the investigation in June 2023, the Department of Education revealed that of twenty-seven Hasidic schools examined, four were up to the standard of secular instruction required by New York education law, five were exempt from examination, and eighteen had failed.
At the same time that the investigation was underway, the New York State Education Department revisited the law and regulations at issue, amending the law in 2018 in what became known as the 'Felder Amendment', and in 2022, introducing controversial stricter rules pertaining to the nonpublic school requirements and their enforcement.
Background
Education law New York State Education law § 3204 provides that students in private schools, which include religious schools, receive instruction that is "at least substantially equivalent" to that given at public schools of the same district.
The New York State Education Department has long provided guidance on its implementation, which outlines required academic subjects and administrative requirements. Up until changes made in 2022 as a result of the Yeshiva investigation, the guidance tasked the local education department with determining compliance, though clarifying that the department's responsibility is the students, not the schools, over which they have no direct authority.
No structured oversight model was provided, and the guidance instructed dealing with incompliance as follows; if a serious concern arose that a school's instruction was not "substantially equivalent", the local superintendent had to liaise with the school, and if necessary, visit the school to verify the concern, and work with the school on improving the standard of instruction. If the superintendent determined that the school had not designed a satisfactory plan or it continued to fall under, they were to notify the local education department. Once they approved a resolution that the school was incompliant, the department would notify the school and its students that the children would be considered truant if they continued to attend that school, and if parents continued to send their children to such a school, the parents were to be notified that truancy petitions would be filed in family court. A school official or parent could appeal the school's equivalency determination within thirty days of the local department's decision.
Timeline of allegations and investigations
As far back as 2003, most government officials in New York City close to the matter reportedly knew of the lack or inadequacy of secular education in Hasidic boys' schools, also called yeshivas, but did not wish to advocate for change or even acknowledge the situation publicly. News media similarly remained quiet, worrying that they would be accused of antisemitism for reporting on it, and insiders were generally unwilling to tell their story publicly. In 2012, that changed when Naftuli Moster, an alumnus of the Hasidic educational system, founded the advocacy group Young Advocates for Fair Education (Yaffed) and begun a campaign to force New York City and State into investigating and regulating the schools.
Yaffed begins advocacy In 2012, Moster wrote to the New York State Board of Regents which governs the New York State Education Department, saying that Hasidic schools were not meeting the Education Department's requirement that nonpublic schools teach a curriculum that is “substantially equivalent to that provided in the public schools”. The Regents replied that “although there is an equivalency of instruction requirement”, nonpublic schools “largely operate outside the scope of state-mandated general education requirements and oversight", a response Moster interpreted as the State's admission of dereliction. Upon questioning by New York Times reporters, the State Education Department said that the City Department of Education was responsible to enforce such requirements, but conversely, the City Department said it was the State's responsibility. The advocacy group then approached the superintendents of three Hasidic-populated New York districts, saying they had failed in their legally prescribed duty to enforce the requirement of "substantial equivalence" in Hasidic schools, though not naming specific schools of concern. The city's department of education responded that to warrant an investigation, Yaffed would need to identify the specific educational institutions that were failing. Moster also went to the state Capitol to present his cause, but later said it proved unproductive. In November 2014, The New York Times reported that Moster, along with several parents of children in the Haredi school system, were preparing to sue the State of New York. Then, in December, the group wrote again to high-ranking officials asking for an investigation to be made, but were ignored.
Jewish Week investigative reporting In 2015, the Jewish Week and WNYC ran a six-month investigation into the matter, interviewing dozens of former students and teachers of Hasidic schools, education experts, lawyers, as well as community members and activists who were against government intrusion. They also reached out to various government officials and New York City Council members but most gave little or no support. Then-mayor of New York Bill de Blasio sent the paper a statement promising "zero tolerance" for inadequate secular instruction at yeshivas, and Daniel Dromm, then-Queens Councilman, gave his outspoken support, telling the Jewish Week, “We can’t have students leaving schools in New York City that can’t speak English, that have no idea of science or history or social studies,” ... “That is not allowed by the state and we cannot continue to allow that to happen”. Dromm also showed up at Yaffed Press conference. But other then-relevant council members Chaim M. Deutsch, Mark Levine and Brad Lander, as well as education regulators then-Governor Andrew Cuomo, then-State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and then-Public Advocate Letitia James, either did not return messages from the paper or declined to comment. Then-Education Committee chairman Stephen Levin, (33rd district which includes parts of Williamsburg) stood up for the schools, saying he had "seen secular education taking place first-hand” at yeshivas in his district.
NYC Department of Education investigation In July of that year, Yaffed sent a letter signed by 52 former yeshiva students, parents and teachers to seven district superintendents in Queens and Brooklyn and the city's schools chancellor, calling for government intervention, alleging that 39 New York yeshivas (thirty-eight in Brooklyn and one in Queens) failed to meet New York state law of “substantial equivalency”; a copy of the letter was also shared with the media. The following week, the city's department of education announced it would be investigating the allegations, telling the Jewish Week, “We take seriously our responsibility to ensure that all students in New York receive an appropriate education, and we will investigate all allegations that are brought to our attention”. Experts opined on the rarity of such a move. Several experts on the Haredi community said that city investigations into yeshiva curriculum was yet unheard of. David Bloomfield, an education professor at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center, referring to the city's duty to oversee private schools, said, "There are political, fiscal, and legal complications involved in this" ... "all of them militate against the application of the rule".
City fails deadlines for report-release In a news conference held by Yaffed in front of New York City Hall in April 2016, the group criticized the de Blasio administration for the lack of any noticeable headway in the probe that their letter had prompted eight months prior, and expressed the belief that the delay was politically motivated to maintain good relations with the Haredi community. The contention that the investigation had stalled was seemingly corroborated by the fact that in July 2015, Harry Hartfield, a spokesman for the education department, said it was “in the process of finalizing a set of requests” for the yeshivas, but then in 2016, Hartfield used the same words, telling news site Patch that they were “in the process of finalizing” them and would be sending them out “soon.” A spokesman for de Blasio responded to concerns of a politically motivated delay, saying the investigation was “active and ongoing", and maintained that to say the requests had not been sent out was inaccurate, but did not elaborate.
At a Council hearing in May 2016, then-Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina testified that the DOE had visited “several” yeshivas and that the probe was “moving faster.” “We now have a committee that is working exclusively on this, so I expect like within a month or so I can give you a written report”. When, in August 2017, the city had yet to publish its report, amid consistent pressure from advocates, City Department officials promised a report on its investigation by September the 22nd; Shortly thereafter, however, they said they needed more time.
At that point, many were alleging that the stalling of the investigation was due to the de Blasio administration's reliance on the Haredi voting bloc. Daniel Dromm, NYCC education committee chairman, said that at two years on and still no conclusion, he could no longer judge the mayor and chancellor favorably. Asked when the education department intended to release an investigation-report, a spokeswoman said, “The investigation is ongoing and we are treating this matter with utmost seriousness.”
Yaffed report